


falling for a star

by katieemaybee



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Acting, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Jokes, Banter, Celebrity Crush, Dirty Jokes, Drinking, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I don't know how to do tags, Innuendo, Just admit that you have feelings already, Public Display of Affection, Publicity, Singing, Slow Burn, Social Media, Teasing, complicated past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:15:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 33,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25165264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katieemaybee/pseuds/katieemaybee
Summary: Pop star Rey ruins actor Ben’s image on a drunken rant about him online and they both start getting a lot of hate from their fans, so the only way they could help each other is to play a fake couple.
Relationships: Kylo Ren & Rey, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 41
Kudos: 203





	1. The late night show

**Author's Note:**

> OH MY GOSH I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS HAS GOTTEN SO MANY HITS ALREADY!! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS LITTLE CREATION OF MY MIND
> 
> Hi!! This is my second fanfic ever. I had so many ideas, but something about Rey and Ben being celebrities and playing a fake couple won my heart, so here you go! I will try to finish this ASAP, but I guess we'll see where the story takes me.
> 
> A few warnings though  
> \- timeline is a bit fast  
> \- some non-consensual fingering  
> \- dry humping  
> \- might have a few plot holes  
> \- very much Reylo centered

  
Rey Niima, better known as just _Rey_ is a rising pop star, whose singles can be heard on the radio all the time. She is constantly hanging out and partying with the hottest artists and other celebrities and it seems that no one on social media can get enough of her. She is not so perfect and fun as she might seem. She has abandonment issues that root from her rough childhood, when her parents died and she was left to be raised by her grandfather Palpatine, who was barely around. She was mostly raised by nannies. All she ever craved was belonging, she craved a real home, she craved a family. So she hoped that the adoring fans could substitute that, when she was discovered on social media by posting videos of her singing. They have yet to fill that void and so she drinks almost every night, hoping it would be a bit easier to not feel so lonely, while all her celebrity “friends” are always busy and fans somewhere behind a screen.

It’s just another night. She is on a late night show _Eventful Evenings with Kay_. The host is one of her few actual and great friends Kaydel and Rey just couldn’t say no to her, when she invited Rey to perform her new single and to talk a little bit about boys.

Kaydel is looking fabulous as usual in her sparkly dress as she sits at her desk like any other late night show host. “So we saw the new Galaxy Battles movie in the cinema a few days ago and let’s be honest, we weren’t there for the plot.” Kaydel chuckles.

“I mean I think the story is interesting. The scavenger turning out to be a powerful jedi gives us all a little hope that anyone can be anything.” Rey smiled, sitting on the couch one leg over the other. She is wearing a black dress that ends at her ankles with a slit on the side, so her leg is fully exposed. 

“Girl, let’s be real. Black is not your go-to colour, yet here you are sitting in this dress and telling me that you didn’t have eyes only for Kylo Ren? I may prefer women, but that man can take me anytime anywhere. What’s up, Ben Solo?” Kaydel gives an exaggerated wink to the camera.

“Well yeah, I guess you could say this dress is a tribute to his character. Kylo definitely lives on in my heart and won’t be soon forgotten. I’m just sad we won’t see him on the screen anymore in his black outfits and oh that mask. I might have a mask kink now.” Rey and Kay laugh.

“His big hands though. In those leather gloves!” Kaydel exclaims.

“Yes! Oh, those hands could do a lot for me.” Rey fans herself with her hand. _I should probably contain myself, this is live TV._

“So without further ado, I’d like to welcome our very special guest tonight: Ben Solo!!” Kaydel stands and shouts. Rey freezes.

There he is. The man of the hour. Currently one of the hottest actors due to his role as Kylo Ren in Galaxy Battles. He never thought of himself as a sex symbol of the millennium, but suddenly everyone was thirsting over him on social media and he couldn’t complain. The ego boost had skyrocketed his attitude from the shy, quirky, gentle guy to a confident, short-tempered man who didn’t take no for an answer. He could take anything he wanted and women threw themselves at him. That however got him into some bad situations. He had a lot of drama with women, who started spreading some nasty rumours about his sex life. Also Ben Solo is tall and shredded, so he can put up a fight. If anyone annoyed him, he would retort to physical actions and yelling. To let them know who is more important. This is a quality that a lot of women saw as dominant and endearing, so hot and sexy, which made a lot of people forget about the dark side of his personality.

And now he is about to sit next to Rey, who had just spoken about him giving her a mask kink and what his hands could do to her. Rey is mortified. She knew that her words were going to get her into trouble soon enough. 

Kaydel sits back down and leans on her hand under her chin. “I think we promoted the movie enough already. You didn’t even need to come here.” She laughs.

“Yes, indeed. I think that there isn’t much else to it. Maybe I’d add laser fights and spaceship races.” Ben chuckles. 

Rey is just in shock. _How is he so effortlessly charming all the time? I've seen all of his interviews and that man doesn't even have to say much._

“Earth to Rey. Yes, your man crush Monday is sitting next to you and I didn’t tell you about it. Surprise!” Kaydel exclaims, making wild gestures.

Rey clears her throat and takes her eyes away from Ben. _Had I been staring at him this whole time?_

“Why only on Monday though?” Ben asks and is now directly looking at Rey.

Rey looks over to him again and feels her cheeks warm up. _Say something funny, say something good._ “Like I said I’m still not over Kylo Ren.” Rey smiles and hopes that that’s enough for them.

“But I’m Kylo Ren, so…” Ben’s eyes are still locked on hers.

“Yes, okay you’re my man crush every day!” Rey whips her hands defeatedly in the air and laughs a little.

“I mean how couldn’t we all be? Look at the man!” Kaydel shows Rey mercy and points to Ben. “But, Ben, tell us, what are you gonna miss most about playing Kylo Ren now that the franchise is over?” Rey raises her eyebrows. Kaydel’s show was never about asking very serious questions. It was all more about fun and jokes, the movie studio must have put her up to it.

Ben nods and simply says. “Well, Kylo is a complex character. I think there is so much more to him than what you see on the screen, but unfortunately the movie isn’t just about him.”

“And that’s the biggest mistake Disney has ever made!” Kaydel cuts in.

Ben chuckles. “Yeah, but I think I’ll miss trying to understand Kylo’s pain and conflict and trying to express that just with my face, without saying anything. There wasn’t a lot of dialogue in the last movie as you saw.”

“There wasn’t indeed and yet you still left us speechless and wanting more.” Kaydel shakes her head. “That is what makes you the best actor of our time. May the award season be with you.”

“Oh, thank you.” Ben is trying to seem humble as he nods to Kaydel.

“That is it for today. Thank you Rey and Ben for joining us on this eventful evening. Now Rey is going to perform her latest single and I’ll see you all tomorrow at the same time! Mwah!” Kaydel blows the camera a kiss and waves.

  
Rey is still in shock. The man she dreams about, the man whose name is enough to make her panties wet is sitting next to her. She had forgotten all about her performance and now he is here, going to listen to her sing. _I think I’ve never been so nervous about a performance before. But I am a professional after all. I know the lyrics, I’ve done this so many times._ Rey moves to take her place on the small stage. Ben stands up as well, but he walks towards the exit, he just leaves. Rey is baffled for a moment, but doesn’t show it. _He just left, just like that?_ Rey looks over at Kaydel, but she just shrugs. Then the music starts playing and she picks up the microphone and puts her heart and soul into her new song, which may or may not be about her love/crush for Ben.


	2. The scandal

The next morning Rey finds her face plastered all over Twitter as fans are shipping her and Ben, calling them Reylo. Rey laughs a little. _As that would ever happen. It’s not like I embarrassed myself in front of him or anything like that._ Rey goes to meet her personal trainer at the gym and picks up a smoothie afterwards. Right away there are pictures of Rey in the tight leggings and sports bra walking to her car, holding a smoothie. She had been sweaty and tired, but to her own surprise she looked quite good, while the clothes accentuated her features. There are already comments about how lucky Ben is for having someone like that longing for him. Rey rolls her eyes. Somehow her “little” celebrity crush is fading already. At the time she hadn’t noticed, but while watching the late night show back, Rey notices his cocky attitude and he just smirks like the entire time, while Rey is just dumbfound, eyes wide. _That’s not a man worth obsessing over._

The day hadn’t been very eventful for her. Her album is being mastered, so there isn’t much for her to do. She decides that today is a good day to just stay at home, maybe clean the house and have a little self-care day. By 5 PM she is bored out of her mind. She painted her nails, cleaned the house, organized her closet, scrolled on Twitter for two hours and took a nap. So it’s the best time to take out her favourite bottle of white wine and start watching Netflix. She finds herself clicking on a movie starring no one else but Ben Solo. She had also ordered a pepperoni pizza, so she posts an Instagram story of her staying in for the night with a glass of wine and pizza. She also adds a sticker, so that her followers can ask her questions and later she could do a little Q&A. She loves interacting with her fans, that makes her feel a little less lonely. 

So by the end of the movie, she is feeling a bit frustrated with Ben for leaving the show like that and not staying for her performance. _He is a big star, yes and very busy, but still he could have stayed for a few more minutes. That was just rude. The audacity of that man. Parading around with all these models and being in all these movies and looking that good and having those big hands._ Rey huffed. She could feel she was wet, but she didn’t want to do anything about it. She didn’t get what she needed from masturbation. Ever since she became obsessed with Ben and his character Kylo Ren, she just couldn’t get the mental picture of him out of his head and that he was the only one who could touch her in a way that would satisfy her. She drinks the last drop from the bottle, her head is buzzing and she remembers her Q&A. _Answering all the questions separately takes too long. I’ll just do a live video._

She picks up her iPhone and iPad. Rey sits down on the floor resting her back against the couch. She leans her phone on the coffee table against a candle, so it stays up and she presses _Go Live_. 

“Hi, everyone. Rey here. I thought I’d do a little Q&A, so here we go.” She shows her iPad she is holding with the questions.

“The first question is why is Kylo Ren your favourite character on Galaxy Battles?” Rey looks at the question disappointed and scrolls down a bit seeing that almost every question has something to do with Kylo or Ben. She puts on her fake smile and decides that if the fans want to know, they should know.

“Well at first I actually didn’t like Kylo. In the first movie when he killed his father, that was very off-putting for me. But later just his complex character and conflicts on the inside and how he interacted and showed his softer side with Kira. I don’t know, I had a change of heart and I started emphasizing with him. I think Ben did a very good job with making him seem more human and Kylo is in my opinion the most interesting character in Galaxy Battles, sorry not sorry.” Rey smiled at the camera.

“Was that the first time meeting Ben? Yes, it was. I have seen him at couple events, but never had the chance to talk to him, so this was definitely a big fangirl moment. And on live TV! ” Rey gasps and laughs. “He left before my performance, so I didn’t get the chance to ask him for his autograph or a picture.” Rey pouts.

“Have you thought about what Ben could do with his big hands? Girl, I answered this on the show.” Rey chuckles. _Definitely didn’t need that image in my head right now. God I hate that man for making me feel like this._

“Have you written a song about Ben or Kylo Ren? I may or may have not. I don’t know. Listen to my latest single to find out.” Rey winks.

“Has your opinion about Ben changed since the show? A bit, yeah. I think actually seeing him in real life so closely made me see that he is just another flawed man, nothing special.” Rey stares straight into the camera and grins. _I am coming to conclusions I never thought I would. Ben can really go and suck a dick._

“Is Ben Solo the man of your dreams? Ugh you guys!" She almost whines. "On a real note I am a bigger fan of Kylo Ren than of Ben, I only said that for the show. I think meeting him made me snap back to reality and see that he is not the man everyone likes to think he is. If you have read the articles about him and how he treats women and fights with paparazzi. I mean that is not the person who I would like to be with, so I’d very much appreciate it if people stopped shipping us, because I don’t want to be tied to someone so problematic.” Rey feels that the wine hit her, like really hit her in the head and she is feeling real sleepy now.

She obviously has been following his career and his activities for a while now, so she knows all about his scandals and dramas. But she also knows that a lot of them could be fake. She has had many about her as well. But while she may have dismissed one of her friends’ claims about Ben, she now thinks that maybe she had been telling the truth and not just trying to make him look bad. Rose Tico was a co-star on one of Solo’s movies and they briefly dated. Rey met Rose when they got drunk at an afterparty and she had told Rey all the dirt about Ben. _How stupid am I? Daydreaming about another celebrity while hot and bothered._

“Anyways I see that a lot of you have asked mostly about Ben, about whom I don’t want to talk about anymore, so I think I might end this live for the night. See you another time. Bye!” She blows a kiss at the camera.

_So much for that._ Her head is now spinning from the wine and she settles in her bed. She never falls asleep this early, but the thoughts in her head have become so heavy she just drifts off to sleep.

-

She is awakened by her agent Poe Dameron, who has apparently left eleven messages and a couple phone calls.

“What is so urgent?” Rey groans on the phone.

“Oh good morning to you too, my sunshine! But I think I should revoke your rights to your social media accounts.” Poe says bitterly.

“What? I didn’t say anything so bad on my live video. Did I?” Rey hesitates.

“Oh no, just you maybe said a couple of words that were enough to unleash hell on social media and maybe ruin Ben’s image!” Poe almost shouts.

Rey groans again. “Oh please, what I said wasn’t anything so ground-breaking. I was just honest.”

“The people don’t like honesty! Especially when you’re talking about the hottest actor at the time, who has the world drooling after him. And from you! His biggest fan. Do you want to know what’s going on social media right now?” Poe is mad now.

“No?” Rey says quietly.

“Your fans and his fans have split into two: Team Rey and Team Ben. Team Rey says that Ben is a scumbag and Team Ben says Rey is just bitter and jealous that Ben rejected her.” 

Rey gasps. “I didn’t get rejected and I’m not jealous!”

“Well, the Internet seems to think so and Rey, honey, they are really dragging you through the mud. I’m afraid we’re going to have to postpone your album release.” Poe is calmer now.

“What? No! We already revealed the date and everything! I won’t do that to my fans! I don’t care what some people might think!” Rey is now boiling.

“Well, it is my job to care and my job to make sure you are successful. If you want your album to flop, sure sit back and do nothing, but if you want people to actually listen and enjoy your big debut album that you have been working on for the past three years, then I’d suggest you listen to me.” Poe says sternly. Rey knows he’s right. She has put her heart and soul into her first album and it would break her heart if it wasn’t received well.

“Ugh, what do you propose?” Rey rubs her eyes and yawns.

“You’re not gonna like it.” 


	3. The other side

Ben doesn’t have social media, as much as he enjoys the attention of his adoring fans, he gets enough of that without his online presence. However his PR team keeps him informed about how the public sees him and if there are any situations he should know about. Mostly the fans are positive towards him, but his occasional dramas get out of hand and his PR team is always ready to tackle anything to make sure his public image is pristine. 

When he was told that the Internet now shipped him and the pop star from the late night show, he just chuckled a bit. It was casual for him that people wanted him to date any females that had been seen close to him. Rey was beautiful, yes, but Ben never dated his fans. It was a turn-off for him. Ben thought it would be boring if his significant other would just do anything he said and saw him as a character or someone who he really isn’t. The models he usually had flings with, they only cared about his fame. After his falling out with his parents, Ben never cared about anyone that much to have a real relationship. Also his last agent and a trusted family friend Snoke had taken advantage of him and ripped him off, so Ben had trust issues ever since and never let anyone get too close and personal with him.

It is a sunny day. Ben was summoned to his PR team’s office.

“Hi, Mr. Solo. I am going to be quite frank with you, the situation isn’t good.” Gwen Phasma, the head of his PR team, puts her hands on her hips and just stands there by her desk.

“What situation? I haven’t done anything.” Ben frowns.

“Yes, you didn’t exactly cause this, but you’re still under attack. Okay, so do you remember Rey, the girl from the late night show?” 

“Yes, the british pop star, who talked about a mask kink.” Ben nods.

“Well, she went live on her social media last night and answered some fan questions about you and your character and she said some things that weren’t so nice about you. Well, she actually didn’t say anything that bad, just the truth, but the Internet is not having it and now your fans are fighting. There is Team Ben and Team Rey and they’re ruthless. Galaxy Battles isn’t happy about this, since the movie just came out and now there is so much bad press about you. They’re thinking about suing you for the damages in their numbers.” Phasma almost desperately looks at Ben, who is just emotionlessly standing there. It isn’t easy to work with Ben. He is not very cooperative and usually says that he just doesn’t care.

“Woah, how did all that happen so fast? Is there a video about what she said? I want to see this. People are always overreacting about these things.” Ben huffs, not sure if he should be mad or feel anything at all.

Phasma shows him the video and Ben looks stunned. 

“Hmm, I thought she was a big fan. Guess not. So how do we fix this?” He runs his fingers through his hair.

Right then Rey and Poe step into Phasma’s office. They both look annoyed. Rey avoids Ben’s gaze.

Poe opens his mouth. “Hi, I’m Poe, I work with Ms. Niima. We spoke on the phone.” Poe reaches to shake Phasma’s hand. “Did you inform your client of our situation?” Poe turns his attention to Ben.

“Yes, but I have yet to tell him about our plan.” Phasma moves around her desk. “So, people seem to think that, Ben, you rejected Rey and now she is mad at you and jealous, also they think that you are a dirtbag, because of your previous scandals.” 

Ben just stares at Phasma and shrugs.

“Which is why we think in order to put your fans at ease and save your precious projects, you two need to make it seem that you’re dating.” Poe chuckles a little bit. “That you two have been seeing each other on the down low, Rey acted as a fan for the show and you two had a fight, so Rey let out her frustration in a live video, but now you’re gonna make up and show the world there is nothing but love between the two of you.” Poe crossed his arms and smiled, looking expectantly at everyone in the room.

Rey’s mouth falls open as she stares at Poe.  _ Who I would’ve killed to date this man a few days ago, but now. I want nothing to do with him. This is stupid. Yet, I dug my own grave, didn’t I? _

Rey sighs as frustration builds up in her. “Really, this is the best you could come up with?! You  _ really _ think faking a relationship is what we need to save our image?! I can post a public apology, people say all kinds of things all the time, so I can be like oh I’m so sorry Ben for making assumptions, that was stupid of me, I learned from my mistakes.” Rey says dramatically.

Ben snorts. 

“What? You want to go along with their plan?! Make kissy faces with me? Hold hands? You don’t even have social media, why do you care enough about this?!” Rey whips, she is mad now.

Ben looks at Rey. “No, I’m not a fan of their plan. I care enough about this to save my own ass, which you apparently handed to me. Don’t forget that you got us into this mess in the first place!” Ben almost shouts.  _ I don’t want to lose control, not here, not now. Breathe in, breathe out. She is just irritated, that’s all. _

Rey’s eyes were wild. Oh, all the things that she wanted to say to him. “You’re an arse, you–”

Poe clapped his hands together. “Okay, happy couple! Seems like you’re already into this whole fight, that’s great. Now we need you two to make up and we’re pretty much good to go, right?”

Phasma chuckled. “Yeah, so you two are now going to settle whatever this is and then you’re going to step outside, go get a smoothie from Rey’s favourite place, walk hand in hand. You don’t have to smile or make kissy faces yet. Just don’t eat each other alive. That’s all. So now apologize to each other. This is just all so pointless and stupid!” Phasma walks out of her office, Poe tags along.

Rey and Ben are having a stare off. It’s Ben who gives up first and rolls his eyes. “Yes, Phasma is right, this is pointless and stupid. We don’t have to make this any more difficult than it already is. So truce?” Ben reaches out his hand to Rey.

Rey just smacks his hand away and says. “No truce. You have to earn that. Now let’s go. You’re paying for that smoothie.” She walks out of the door.

Ben stays there for a moment.  _ Well, this is a first. Any woman would have taken my hand.  _ He runs after her.


	4. The first date

Before stepping out of the building Rey waits for Ben. As soon as he stands next to her and looks down at her, she grabs his hands and pushes the door. This isn’t a very crowded street, but they get a few stares. She tries to put off the grimace on her face and relax a bit. _They told us no need to smile or look smitten, so we should be fine._ They’re walking hand in hand. _This was a dream of mine once. Not long ago. Gosh I’m dramatic aren’t I? His hands are so big. They swallow mine! I can’t believe I thought about these hands on my body last night._ Rey huffs and tenses, Ben stops and looks at her, he then pulls her into an embrace and cups her cheeks. Rey is now forced to look into his brown eyes, she tries hard not to fall into them. Ben places a light kiss on her forehead. “Sweetheart, where is the smoothie place?” He simply says and smiles a little. Rey lets out a little groan and peels herself away from him to keep walking. Ben doesn’t miss a beat and slings his arm around her shoulder. Rey reluctantly brings up her hand and intertwines it with his fingers. _Great, now I look like a pissed girlfriend on her period and he looks like a caring boyfriend._ There are definitely pictures being taken. 

The smoothie place isn’t far and they walk there in silence. There are definitely a few stares once they enter the little shop. Rey is so used to ignoring them, but now with Ben there as well, she can’t help but feel like a fraud. _I wanted to be honest with my fans and now I’m playing with them._ Rey orders her usual – the Strawberry and Mango Sunrise – it has all her favourite berries and fruit, Rey orders that every time she needs a little pick me up, which is usually after workouts, but now seems like a good time as well. Ben orders a Blueberry Blaster, which is somehow so likely for him and he pays like Rey wanted. 

“Do you want to sit here or walk around?” Ben breaks their silence.

“I think fresh air would be good.” Rey gulps. Right before stepping out of the door, Rey sees too many people on the street and anxiety takes over. She turns around and looks at Ben. “Actually, let’s stay here for a bit.” And she scurries to an available table in the back. 

They sit down and Rey is still feeling anxious, she keeps looking around the shop and outside through the big windows. It feels like the walls are closing in on her, so she picks up her smoothie and starts sucking on the straw. Ben stops her spiralling by putting his hand on hers that was resting on the table. “Hey, are you okay? You look like you’re having a panic attack.” He says gently.

Rey’s attention is now fully on him and she is thankful that he has been considerate enough in their 5 minute relationship. She puts down the smoothie and exhales. “Yeah, I might be spiralling. This is all too much and it’s all happening too fast. I’m not comfortable with this.” She gestures towards Ben’s hand resting on hers. “I’m not an actor, I can’t pretend to be in love with you.”

Ben sighs, hand still on hers. “Hey now, I know this is not very conventional and this happened fast, but you don’t have to act. You said I was your man crush every day, so shouldn’t you be thrilled for this?” Ben winks at her and squeezes her hand.

Rey is baffled. _The audacity of this man._ “I’m completely over it. I would throw this smoothie in your face if it wasn’t my favourite and the only thing keeping me sane right now. But fine, you wanna play this game, let’s play!” Mischief is playing in Rey’s eyes. _What should be my next move?_

“I feel better now, so let’s walk down the street and show everyone how in love we are.” Rey says too enthusiastically and stands up. Ben follows right after. 

A breath of fresh air was exactly what Rey needed to help and clear her head. _I could let this situation suffocate me, but I could also have fun. I’m forced to hang out with Ben Solo of all people._ Rey smirked as they walked again, smoothies in hand. Ben’s other hand was now resting on her waist. Somehow it felt so natural. Rey spots a few guys with cameras and stops immediately. Ben looks at her puzzled as she reaches her one hand around his neck and pulls him into a deep kiss, eyes closed. They part lips almost right away and now their tongues are having a fight on their own. Ben is so mesmerized by the kiss that he pulls Rey even closer. It looks like they’re trying to eat each other alive, just like Poe said they shouldn’t, but this kiss was just too hot to stop. For a moment Rey forgets all her negative feelings, with every passing second she becomes that fangirl again, who yearned for Ben’s touch and she moans into his mouth. That caught him off guard, but he doesn’t stop. Rey finally pulls away to catch her breath, she is too engulfed in Ben’s scent, which makes her head dizzy. Like that the hate and tension in the air resolves and they are looking at each other with a fresh set of eyes, hands still holding on.

“Did you just moan?” Ben chuckles.

Rey rolls her eyes suppressing a smile and pulls away her hand from his neck to punch his bicep lightly. “Shut up.”

“Well, that definitely got everyone’s attention now. Maybe next time you should give me a heads up, so I might not have to walk around with a boner.” Ben brings his smoothie to cover up a big bulge in his jeans.

Rey bites her lip. “Oh sorry, I didn’t know I’d have that effect on you. You rejected me after all.” She grins.

“Oh, haha. Yes, a beautiful woman making out with me has a certain effect.” Ben gives her a little smile and a side eye.

But Rey looks shocked. “You think I’m beautiful?”

“Yes, I’m a man and I’m not blind, so… Can we leave? My car is back by the PR building and I need to take care of this uncomfortable situation in my pants.”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll walk with you. It’s the least I can do.” Rey turns and bites her lip again as they start making their way back.

“I can drop you off anywhere you need. We should probably leave together, there are still a lot of witnesses around. You could also come over to my place if you want…” Ben gives Rey a suggestive look and raises his eyebrows.

Rey snorts. “Why? So I could help you take care of that business in your pants? Dream on Solo!”

Ben reaches his hand down to take her hand as they walk. “Wouldn’t you like to know what my hands could do to you? I also have Kylo’s mask at home. I heard you have a mask kink.” Ben smiles and winks at Rey.

Rey’s cheeks are now on fire. _Should I go? No, I shouldn’t. This is fake. It is supposed to be fake!_

They reach his car and he opens the passenger’s door to her and then walks to the other side to get in. Rey notices she hasn’t even reached half of her smoothie yet and quickly starts drinking it. 

“You thirsty? I could give you something bigger to suck on.” Ben smirks as he starts the car.

_Great, now I can’t finish this smoothie without thinking about sucking him off._ Rey rolls her eyes at him and stops sucking the straw. She tries to smoothly and secretly glance at his bulge. From what she is seeing, that man is packing.

“So where do I take you?” Ben’s question pulls her out of her impure thoughts.

“I thought we were heading to your place?” Rey tries to sound seducing.

“Yeah, sure. I thought I could try and be a gentleman, that’s why you fell for me after all.” Ben glances at Rey with a smile.

Rey shakes her head. “No no, I fell for you, because you’re just like my favourite bad boy Kylo Ren. The resemblance is just uncanny.” Rey is grinning now. “Also you mentioned you have Kylo’s mask at home. That is something that I would very much like to see.” Rey shifts in her seat.

Soon enough Ben pulls into his driveway. _Of course, this bloody wanker has a mansion with a fountain in front of it._ Rey looks at his house in awe.

Rey shakes her head. “No way, this place is too nice! You live here??” Rey steps out the car and gasps.

“You could live here too if you want to take our relationship to the next level.” Ben smirks at her and leads her to his front door. Stepping in there are two staircases leading to the second floor, straight ahead through the big windows there is a pool and a lounge area. The house is a perfect blend of modern and luxurious. “If the rest of the house is just like this, then I might have to take you up on that moving in offer.” Rey is out of breath. _I have fallen in love with a house. This feels like a new low. This house is amazing though._

“Would you like anything to drink? You can look around a bit, while I quickly shower and then I can give you the grand tour?” Ben shrugs. 

“Who are you and what did you do to Ben Solo?” Rey turns to Ben.

“What are you talking about? You know me better than anyone, you’re my girlfriend after all.” Ben smirks while leaning against the staircase.

Rey moves towards him. “ _Fake_ girlfriend. Don’t let it get to your head.” She is standing so close now that she can feel his hot breath on him. Rey grabs his bulge and Ben instinctively pulls away. Rey lets out a little laugh and Ben is quickly going upstairs. “We’ll see about that, sweetheart.”

-

Rey looks around his place and makes her way to the kitchen. _What is he doing right now? Just taking a shower or… Maybe blowing off some steam?_

She feels like an intruder, but she wants that drink so she is going through his cabinets, when she finally finds some glasses. She puts it under the tap and enjoys a glass of cold water. Rey looks around a little bit more and spots a wine fridge. _That’s genius, why don’t I have that yet?_ She is tempted to open one, but _maybe they’re all very expensive and fancy_. Then she notices her favourite brand of white wine. _Oh, I’ll just buy him a new one._ She finds the corkscrew and opens up the wine. _This wine got me into this mess, maybe it will help get out of it._

She takes the glass and the bottle and walks back to the foyer. The sun is still high and it was pretty warm outside, so she steps though the glass door, where she spotted the pool and sits on a soft couch in the lounge area. She takes a big sip and looks at the view. His house is just in the perfect place on a hill, where you can see the city on the horizon, while the palm trees in his yard frame the view. She ponders about the city. It’s full of life, people, _so many_ people, yet she is sitting here on the sidelines, staring from afar. The loneliness creeps back into her chest as she finishes the drink in her glass and pours another one. Fame had made her so secluded. Even when she interacted with her fans, everyone was just focused on her and she couldn’t connect with others. She wanted that connection. _But I guess I’m used to it by now. Being alone, on my own._ She sighs and chugs the whole glass again, having downed half of the bottle.

“The view is quite breathtaking, right?” Ben says as he sits next to Rey.

“Yes, definitely something I’ll be looking for in my next house.” Rey looks at Ben. His hair is a bit damp from the shower, but overall he looks and smells clean. “Did you think of me, when you took care of yourself?” Rey is still staring at Ben with mischief.

“God, woman! Don’t make me go back there.” Ben exclaims and shakes his head. “Look, it seems like we did well on our mission. Media has been going crazy, because of our _very public_ PDA.” Ben chuckles and takes the empty glass from Rey to pour some more wine and drink it himself.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I saw my favourite wine and couldn’t stop myself. I’ll bring you a new one.” Rey softly says. Ben just shrugs. “It’s whatever.”

“But show me the pictures, I wanna see our makeout!” Rey grabs Ben’s phone and zooms in on the pictures of the two. “Ugh, it looks so sloppy! Like we’re trying to eat each other!” Rey makes a grimace.

“Yeah, but that’s the selling point. If you’re only pretending, you don’t kiss like that.” Ben gives Rey the side eye. It takes a moment for Rey to catch up and she hits his arm.

“Hey! No! Ugh. Okay I’ll tell you how it is.” Rey sits cross-legged on the couch fully facing Ben. The wine hits her, she can feel it. _I’ve got this all under control._

“So, yes, I had a _little_ crush on you.” Rey shows minimal distance between her thumb and her index finger. “You know like you have on celebrities that you find good looking and talented. Did I get hot and bothered and restless, because of thinking about your big hands? Also true. You see, I don’t wanna lie to you. But then I met you and saw you real close and looked right into your eyes.” She moves her head closer to Ben’s and stares deeply into his eyes.”I just… Umm.”

“You just what?” Ben says gently leaning in closer.

Rey shakes her head. “I just didn’t feel it, but you should know that if I do something, I do it with passion! Hence the heavy kiss. But you could have stopped me or something!” Rey gestures and she realizes. “You have been making sexual jokes and comments towards me all day! Do _you_ have feelings for me!?” Rey points at Ben as she exclaims.

Ben starts laughing. “Hey, I just like to enjoy the company of a beautiful woman, but I also maybe wanted to tease you.” Ben finishes the glass of wine.

“Oh, so you like teasing, huh? You think you’re some hot stuff just because people thirst over you online? People thirst over everyone online! It’s a common thing! But I’ll show you teasing.” Rey climbs onto Ben’s lap until she is straddling him and runs her fingers through his hair. As if on instinct Ben’s hands land on her hips. Rey starts slowly moving her hips back and forth. “I can do some teasing.” She whispers seductively close to Ben’s ear. “Just tell me to stop if it gets too much.” She winks.

“Rey, you might be in over your head. I’ll happily come in my pants with you riding me. You also forget that I’m bigger and stronger than you, that I can simply put you over my shoulder and throw you on my bed. There I would spread you out and rip off your clothes, leaving you all bare and needy for me. I know your panties are wet for me right now. So _you_ tell me, when it gets too much for you, because I could do this all day long.” Ben smirks and squeezes her hips forcing her down harder on his bulge.

Rey gasps. _Fuck._


	5. The house tour

Rey’s thoughts are all over the place. She is panicking, but also calm, because the wine had calmed her down, but now she doesn’t feel in control.  _ Ugh, this man. _

Ben is right, her panties are wet. He feels big enough that Rey can also come to an end real soon.  _ Am I seriously dry humping my fake boyfriend right now? What a life! _

“Hmm, maybe you’re right. We could make this a real thing and I could be your fling, just like every other woman you date. It can all be over real soon, because let's be honest, this fake relationship thing is stupid. I’m sure the media will be devastated about their new power couple breaking up, but at least our past mistakes aren’t on display anymore. I get to release my album and say I wrote the songs about you, so more people will listen to it. You get more press for whatever movie you’re promoting. And you don't have to see me ever again, if you just admit that you’re desperate for me, you can’t stand the fact that I don’t want to jump into bed with you and say that I adore you, that I don’t give you everything right away like you’re used to.” Rey is still slowly rocking her hips.

“Is it really that easy to get you into bed with me then?” Ben chuckles. “Rey, baby, you were the one with stars in your eyes, when you saw me walk in. You talked about me last night with your fans, you were the one who kissed me like that. I think you are the one who is desperate for my cock or hands, whatever is your preference, but I promise you I will make you feel so good...” Ben pulls Rey against his chest and is massaging her nape. “Just admit that you’ve been dreaming about this, that you want this and stop playing. It’s really that simple.”

Rey is not sure if her cheeks are on fire, because of the wine or Ben’s sweet talk.  _ The temptation is real. _

_ What was the purpose of all of this again? Oh, right! Save our image! But making out and doing whatever the heck this is, is definitely not helping the cause. _

“Touché. Better luck next time then!” Rey pulls away, smiles and stands up. “You promised to show me the house. Oh and Kylo’s mask! Kylo’s mask! Kylo’s mask!” Rey starts shouting and jumping enthusiastically, knowing very well that he can see her boobs bouncing.  _ Oh, bloody, the poor tosser is so hard right now. Can’t even stand up.  _ She smirks.

“You’re the devil’s spawn, you know that?” Ben squints at her as he stands up and steps inside.

Rey just shrugs. “Just like Hannah Montana said: nobody’s perfect.”

-

Ben is clearly uncomfortable as he keeps shifting his pants, but he doesn’t go to take care of it. Rey just giggles to herself.  _ Hehe, I did that to him. That’s what you get for teasing me. _

Ben clears his throat. “So as you already saw this is the foyer, there is the kitchen, here is the living room, through that door is my home office, here’s the downstairs bathroom.” Ben quickly paces through the first floor, it’s hard for Rey to keep up with his long legs.

“Hey! I can’t admire this place if you run like that. Like I get it that some men finish fast and that’s fine, but you should also think about your partner and her needs and what I need you to do right now is slow down and take it from the start.” Rey stands and shouts after him.

Ben abruptly stops. “You did not just imply that I don’t last.”

Rey shrugs. “It’s fine, I don’t judge, just – Hey! Put me down!” Ben picks Rey up and throws her over his shoulder and gives her ass cheek a little slap.

“You’re ridiculous. Wanna see Kylo’s mask? Sure let’s go!” Ben moves quickly upstairs, while Rey is just baffled on his shoulder. He makes his way to his bedroom. A beautiful room with a high ceiling, a large window for a wall with the same view as in the lounge area. Ben throws Rey on his soft and wide bed, just like he said he would.

“What now? You’re gonna rip off my clothes and leave me all bare and needy?” Rey smirks as she props herself up on her elbows.

Ben climbs on top of her and gives her a peck. “You’re gonna do that voluntarily once I show you this.” He stands up and leaves the room, but is back in a few seconds, holding Kylo Ren’s mask.

Rey squeaks and runs up to Ben. “No way! This is amazing!” She wants to touch it, but also doesn’t.  _ This mask is a grand artifact.  _ “Was it uncomfortable to wear during filming?” Her eyes are running over the mask.

“No, it was fine. Though I could barely see in this. You wanna try it on?” Ben is holding out the mask to Rey.

“What? No no, this is a masterpiece, I wouldn’t dare.” Her hands are hovering over the mask as she inspects every detail.

“Oh, come on! It’s not that special.” Ben looks at Rey pleading. “I bet it would look good on you.”

“You take that back! This mask is incredible! Don’t listen to him, he didn’t mean it, he’s just a big dumdum.” Rey tells the mask soothingly. “But… I guess this is a chance of a lifetime to try on the famous Kylo Ren mask. May I?”

Ben puts the mask on Rey. “Wow, you really can’t see anything with this! How did you do your fight scenes?!” Rey looks around.

“I had to rely on my scene partners.” Ben chuckles at the sight of Rey looking around and swatting her hands in the air so she won’t bump into anything.

“Can you take a picture of me?” Rey lifts up her phone so Ben would take it. “The password is uh.. Uhm Kylo.” Rey clears her throat. “Do you also have the lightsaber?!”

“Oh, how flattering. Yes, I actually have that as well, be right back.” Ben quickly jogs back and takes Rey’s hand to place Kylo’s red cross guard there and lights up the lightsaber. “Now this might give  _ me _ a mask kink!” Ben scratches his jaw as he takes in the view of Rey, who is now gently testing her lightsaber skills. “Oh, yes, how do you want the pictures?”

“I don’t really care, just make sure I look badass.” Rey chuckles. She holds the lightsaber vertically next to her head, bending her knees a little so she is in the battle stance. She tries a couple more poses.  _ Pretty sure I look stupid, but this is a dream come true. _ “Okay, thanks I think we got enough.”

Ben helps her remove the mask and takes it and the lightsaber back to its unknown location. “Oi, these pictures are pretty good, thanks! Is it okay if I post one?”

“Sure, I mean I think that shows that we’re together.” Ben shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets.

Rey is already on her phone, pressing  _ Post _ . “Okay, thanks!” She glances up at Ben and smiles. “I think I should head home now, we’ve done enough for the day. Thanks for having me!”

“Oh, yeah, of course, do you want me to take you home?” Ben crosses his arms and starts walking Rey to the front door.

“No, I already called my driver. Also you had wine, so you can’t take me anywhere. Anyways, I guess we’ll be in touch then. Till next time!” Rey steps out and waves to Ben.

“Yeah, next time.” He reluctantly brings his hand up to wave her back and shuts the door.

  
Rey's abrupt exit makes Ben feel hollow. They connected and that scared him a little bit. He had never been cock blocked by a woman before, yet here he was hard twice in one day. Maybe he should make a social media account, so he can keep up with her and maybe look at her pictures...


	6. The media outbreak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My initial plan was to make this a shorter fic and post once I completed it, but then I got antsy and I kind of want to drag this out longer, so I apologize for the potential wait.

The next day Reylo is all that people would talk about. There are many media articles about them and fans are rejoicing on social media. There is no more Team Ben or Team Rey, it is just Team Reylo. And all that Ben and Rey did was kiss on the street and post a picture of Rey with Kylo Ren’s props. 

“That is honestly enough to keep them busy for the week, so you can relax and not have to worry about seeing him just yet. I have to say I’m pretty impressed, didn’t think I would get the two of you to kiss at all.” Poe smiles as he leans back on his office chair and looks at Rey.

“Great. But for how long do we have to keep up this charade?” Rey sits on the chair across from Poe’s desk and crosses her leg.

“Hmm I’m thinking that three more months until your album release. You can break up right before the release party, then people will still be interested. Luckily, since the two of you are about to be real busy, you won’t even have to spend a lot of time with him. Ben is leaving the city for three weeks for filming and you have performances and promo events coming up.” Poe gives her a reassuring smile, because the last he saw, they hated each other.

Rey gulps. “Can you send me his number then? So we could plan ahead and keep Team Reylo fed.” Rey smiles hopefully.  _ What if I actually wanted to see him again? _

“Actually I set up an interview for a magazine, so you could officially talk about your coupledom. It will be really quick, they will take a few pictures of the two of you and ask some questions and that should be enough to keep everyone happy for like another two weeks. I’ll be holding off any live interviews as long as I can, because I don’t trust you yet.” Poe now leans on his desk and gives Rey a mischievous smile.

“Oh, perfect! I still would need his number though.” Rey smiles hesitantly. “I guess I’ll go and start thinking about our backstory then.” Rey stands up to leave.

“No worries, I already did that. My job is to make your life easier after all.” Poe hands her papers. “I’ll see you at the photoshoot in a couple of days. You can rest until then!”

“Great.” Rey gives Poe a fake smile and takes the papers.

-

She sits down on her couch and starts reading Poe’s fiction about Reylo’s love story. Apparently Rey and Ben met a couple months back at Ben’s co-star Finn Storm’s birthday party, where she had performed, which was true,  _ but I didn’t know that Ben was at that party. _ Ben had told her he liked her songs and thought she was beautiful and Rey said that she was a fan. Rey winced as she read that part.  _ This is not how it would’ve happened. Ben probably had a date to the party and kept his hand around her waist the entire evening and then they left early, because Ben didn’t enjoy big social gatherings and would rather spend time with the company in his bed. Also Ben would never come up to me and say that. Women would usually throw themselves at his feet.  _

Rey sighs and starts thinking.  _ Okay, this story should be realistic, so here’s how it really went down.  _ She starts making notes. Rey saw Ben and couldn’t keep herself composed, because she was a huge fan of Galaxy Battles and approached him to ask him for a picture. He was kind enough to take a quick selfie with her and then he turned back to his company. Rey was happy enough and left him alone. But they bumped into each other a couple more times throughout the night and so they started talking and flirting, but kept it casual and private until they had a fight, which resulted in all the drama.  _ Yes, that should be believable enough. _

Her phone buzzes and she sees Poe’s messages. The first one is Ben’s number, the other one however. “Hey, keep your bae in check, he just broke the Internet by creating an Instagram account.”  _ What? The man, the enigma, so mysterious and out of reach is now on social media? _

Ben Solo created an Instagram account, which he thought was nothing special, but in the first hour he got a million followers and his phone wouldn’t stop blowing up, because he couldn’t find how to turn off the notifications. He got verified almost immediately. He had no posts and followed only one person, Rey.

Rey slides into his DM’s. “Hey, what’s the special occasion? Also Poe sent me your number, so I’m gonna text you right now.”

“But seriously though, you’re on social media now?” Rey quickly texts him.

“Yes, I thought I’d keep my eye on you, so you wouldn’t get us into any more trouble.” Ben replies.

“Oh, ha ha. Thanks, but I’ll manage. You just wanted to snoop on my photos, didn’t you?” Rey smirks.

“Maybe. Can’t blame a man for trying.”

“I’ll make sure to post pretty pictures for you then x. See you soon!” Rey looks at her phone and then opens Instagram to see that her feed is pretty much all over the place. She wanted to stay true and honest with her fans, so she kept her account real and chaotic, but knowing that Ben is going to be snooping, she quickly deletes a few pictures.

-

Their interview is tomorrow. Rey thought that the theme for their photoshoot would be something very basic and classy, but turns out the magazine is going for more of a _risque_ vibe. She opens the package they sent and finds a couple lace lingerie sets to choose from. There’s a letter informing her that she doesn't have to worry, she won’t be as exposed, because Ben and some silky sheets will be covering her. Rey raises her eyebrows at that.  _ If they would only know what was really going on. _

She tries on the sets, but can’t choose, so an idea pops into her head.  _ I could ask Ben.  _ She snaps a few cute photos and sends them Ben’s way before she changes her mind.

Rey doesn’t have to wait long for Ben to answer as he replies “Hot”. Rey rolls her eyes.  _ What a poet. _

“I need your help to choose for tomorrow. I like them all.” 

“You’re gonna be wearing just that for the magazine?!”  _ I wish I could see his face right now. _

“And apparently you and some silk sheets. They want it to be sexxxy.” Rey bites her lip.

“Then the black set. For Kylo ;)”  _ I didn’t know the man knew how to use emojis. _

Ben sends another message. “Can’t wait to have my big hands on you tomorrow.”

Rey huffs and turns off her phone. She can’t get wet in this barely there lace lingerie. If it’s not already enough that they’re going to be skin to skin and so intimate in front of all those people and then the pictures will be seen by so many.  _ No, I can’t spiral again. I’ll wrap myself in those sheets and tell them to bite me. Oh, I feel like Ben would bite me if I said that. Nope! _

She pulls her panties off in one swift move and changes back to her sweats. She pours herself a glass of wine and tomorrow can’t come fast enough.

-

The photoshoot starts early. At 7 AM she is sitting in hair and make-up as she slurps sleepily on her latte.  _ Ben is so lucky, he doesn’t need to go through all this crap. _

Her hair is slightly wavy, but looks extremely sleek and shiny. Her make-up is quite natural,  _ so why did I have to sit here for two hours?! _ Her lips have light pink sheen and eyelids have a little sparkle as the main component is the perfectly winged eyeliner. 

Ben sits in the chair next to her and they just comb his hair, use a little styling cream, dust some mattifying powder on and in 5 minutes he is done. Rey is about to crush her coffee cup.

“Well, don’t you look gorgeous. I’d kiss you, but it seems that you have been here for a while.” Ben smirks at Rey, who looks like she might strangle him.

“If you’re ready, let’s begin!” Someone yells from the back.

Ben offers Rey his hand to help her stand up and looks at her with a smile. Rey just rolls her eyes and takes his hand. “It’s too early for this.”

They walk over to the set, both wearing robes. Ben drops his first. He is wearing long black silk pyjama pants and that’s it. His chest is bare and his abs in all of its glory. Rey tries not to stare. Ben sits on the edge of the bed on set and holds his hands openly out. “Come sit on daddy’s lap.” He says with a smirk.

Rey reluctantly removes her robe revealing the black lace lingerie.  _ I feel so uncomfortable right now.  _ “I don’t have daddy issues, thank you very much.” She huffs and turns to the photographer. “So how exactly do you want us.”

“Me in you.” Ben quietly mumbles so only Rey hears.

“Mr. Solo, bring up your left knee, Ms. Niima, sit between his legs, almost in his lap and put your right hand behind his neck and lightly cup his right cheek with your left hand.” The photographer instructs. Rey moves to do exactly as he says and looks at Ben, while placing her hand gently on his cheek. Then there’s a flash. “Perfect, the two of you look so in love. This magazine cover is going to be amazing!” He gasps.

The photographer guides them with a few more poses and then tells them to do whatever feels natural.

“Oh no, that would be too explicit for the magazine.” Ben smirks at Rey. Rey has been trying to compose herself for the last ten minutes, because the fact that he has his arms around her and their bodies are touching so much, she feels the heat in her lower belly. She just gives him a slight nod, not sure what to say or do.

“Okay, let’s try this.” Ben shifts himself and moves behind Rey. “I’ll come from behind you, you stretch out your leg here and I’ll lean over you like this.” Rey is still sitting on the edge of the bed, her left leg is stretched on the, while the other stays on the floor. Ben is hovering over her, covering her left side and his left hand reaches for her right shoulder, while he pulls his face real close to hers. Rey still looks ahead, too scared to look into his eyes as they have probably darkened. While they might not look like a lovey-dovey couple, the tension between them and the coldness in Rey’s eyes creates an intense and hot atmosphere.

“Looking good! Why don’t we try something with smiling?” The photographer offers.

Rey finds herself in Ben’s lap, fully this time. He pulls the sheet over her legs, while leaving one leg exposed. He pulls her closer by her waist and drapes his long arm around her so his fingers are hanging at the hem of her panties, under the sheet. Rey gulps. With his right hand he pulls Rey’s jaw to face him and he gives her a long peck. A few flashes. 

“Great, very hot. This is a good position.” The photographer yells. “But it’s still too tense, I want to see some softness.”

Ben pulls away from her lips and gently strokes her cheekbone with his thumb, while looking straight into her eyes. That distracts Rey enough, she doesn’t realize at first that Ben’s other hand has shifted a little bit lower and now his fingers are touching her clit through the panties. He can feel that she is wet indeed. 

“Ben, stop.” Rey quietly hisses wanting to pull away.

“No, don’t move! Stay like that. That’s good!” Rey thinks she might actually stab the photographer.

“Yes, sweetie, keep still.” He moves his thumb from the cheek to her lower lip. Rey is too scared to move.  _ I don’t want anyone to know that he is– oh my lord he slipped his finger in.  _ Rey slightly gasps, still holding her eyes on Ben.

“Oh so much sexual tension, forget the smiling, this is good.” The photographer shouts, thrilled.

Ben pulls her even closer to him as he adds another finger and Rey places her hands on his arms, wanting to tear his away. More flashes. She is breathing very heavily now as Ben caresses her cheek and smirks at her. 

“Ms. Niima, could you maybe also give us a little smile?” The photographer instructs.

Rey pulls her mouth into a little forced smile.  _ It’s too early for this! _

“Perfect! I think we got enough!” Poe claps his hands together and Rey jumps a little as she finally tears away her eyes from Ben. She clenched while she was startled and made a little noise, because Ben’s fingers were still inside her. Slowly he takes away his hands and winks at Rey as he pushes her to stand, so he could pick up her robe and cover her.

“You did good, sweetheart.” He reaches down and kisses Rey’s forehead.

Seeing that there is a small crowd gathering, Rey forces a smile. “You too, babe.” And smacks his ass. Ben looks at her surprised and pulls his robe on.

“So, good morning. The pictures look good, you’ve got steaming chemistry! Why don’t you change clothes and we’ll get started with the interview. We should be done by 11 and then Mr. Solo can get to his shoot on time.” Poe starts leading them away from the set and ushers them to the changing room.

“What shoot?” Rey quickly asks. 

“Oh, we’re doing a little sketch about Galaxy Battles.” Ben grabs his shirt and pulls it on.

Rey gathers her pants and shirt, looking around if she can hide somewhere while changing.  _ Of course, they think we’re a couple and don’t need separate changing rooms. " _ So you’re reprising your role as Kylo?” Rey turns her back to him and changes her bra in hopes that he isn’t looking.

“Yes, actually if you’re free, you could come to the set. I’m sure you’d like to see Kylo Ren in all of his glory, mask and all.” Rey can feel Ben smirking.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to intrude or... distract you.” Rey bites her lip.  _ How do I change my panties?? _

She puts on her robe again and quickly scrambles off her lace and  _ very wet _ panties.  _ I can’t give these back to them! _ She then puts on her others and pulls on her pants.

“Naww, I wish I would have seen the show.” Ben smiles at her as she turns around. Her cheeks are flaming. He was looking at her the entire time.

Ben moves to Rey and grabs her hand and together they leave the changing room. Everyone is already waiting for them.

“Shit! I forgot to tell you how we met.” Rey stops in her tracks and pulls Ben back. She quietly tells him. “We met at Finn’s birthday party a couple months ago, where I performed. I saw you and asked for a picture. Later at the party we bumped into each other a few times and started talking. Then we had a fight and here we are.” Ben just nods and together they walk over to take a seat across from who seems to be an interviewer. Poe is standing nearby, nervously biting his lip.


	7. The interview

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff

The interviewer begins. “The two of you have managed to create quite a storm in the media with the last couple of days, so tell us how did it all begin?”

Rey and Ben look at each and Rey is about to open her mouth, but the words die in her throat. Ben takes the lead. “We met a couple months ago at my friend Finn Storm’s birthday party. Rey performed a few songs and I was quite taken by her. But she was actually the one who made the first move by telling me she loves Galaxy Battles and would like a picture with me. We ran into each other a few more times at the party and started talking. We kept it really private, because it was new, but we had a little misunderstanding and here we are.”

“Oh, so you have been together for a while now? On the late night show it seemed that you hadn’t met before and then Miss Niima’s rant online definitely left us shocked when the pictures of your PDA emerged. Would you comment on that?” The interviewer pushed back her glasses.

Rey cleared her throat. “Yes, we actually wanted to keep our relationship private a bit longer to see where it goes, which is why I tried my best to act starstruck on  _ Eventful Evenings with Kay _ and everyone believed me, so maybe I should start thinking about an acting career.” Rey forces a chuckle, while Ben just stares at her in disbelief. “But then we had an argument and I was very emotional and slightly tipsy when answering some questions by fans, which of course were only about Ben and I tried to keep us under wraps, but I guess I kind of lost it.” Rey looks down at the ground, trying to fake guilt.

Ben scoots closer to Rey and puts his arm over her shoulders. ”We talked it through though and decided it’s best not to hide it anymore.” Ben gives the interviewer an assuring smile.

“Ms. Niima, you have always said you want to be honest with your fans, yet you didn’t tell them the truth about your relationship, even came up with elaborate stories to cover it up. Do you have anything to say to your fans?” The interviewer seems to be plotting something.

Rey feels a little panic rise, but Ben pulls her back by gently squeezing her arm. “I do feel bad about it. I never wanted to lie, but what I have with Ben is very personal to me and I wasn’t exactly ready to share it with the rest of the world yet. I apologize for lying about us in such a way and I hope that my fans can forgive me. I’ll do my best going forward.” Rey gulps.  _ And somehow this situation got a lot worse. _

“Mr. Solo, I couldn’t help but notice that your previous relationships have lasted only a month or even less than that. What is so different about Ms. Niima?” The interviewer leans closer to the edge of her seat.

Rey raises her eyebrows and looks at Ben expectantly. Ben takes a deep breath and collects his thoughts. “She is amazing, she is the other half of my soul and she makes me feel complete, that I don’t need anything else in my life, just her.” He looks at Rey hesitantly.

Rey is shocked at his revelation.  _ That was a bit much, bruv.  _

The interviewer just bats her eyelashes for a moment and then hums. “Miss Niima, it seems that you have managed to win Mr. Solo’s heart, has he won yours?”

Rey’s head is blank for a moment, all she can think is  _ just smile and nod y’all.  _ She clears her throat and laughs a little. “Of course, he has. He makes me very happy.” She says as she squeezes his hand and kisses him on the cheek.  _ Actions speak louder than words. Wait? They won’t see this. This is for a magazine. Ugh, I’m dumb. _

The interviewer continues. “That’s good to hear. But both of you are currently in high demand. How do you manage to make time for each other with your busy schedules?”

Ben starts. “We talk a lot on the phone and meet up every chance we get. I even made myself an Instagram account to be closer to her.” They both chuckle.

But Rey is not done yet. “I do wish we could spend more time together though, I always miss him a lot when he has long shoots.”

The interviewer gives her a fake smile. “Miss Niima, your debut album is going to be released in a few months. Tell us, are there any songs about Mr. Solo?”

Now Ben turns to Rey expectantly. “Like I’ve said before maybe a few are, but maybe not. I guess you’ll have to wait and listen.” Rey chuckles. “I have worked on this album for a few years now, so most of the songs have been written before I met Ben, but I think a lot of them relate to us.” She gives him a beaming smile.

  
  


The interviewer seems to be getting bored now as she sighs. “We know that Miss Niima is a big fan of your character Kylo Ren. Did that affect your relationship in any way?”

Ben laughs a bit. “Yes, I was actually afraid at first that she only liked me for playing Kylo Ren, but she has shown me otherwise. Although I have to admit she looks pretty cute in Kylo’s mask and holding his lightsaber.”

Rey lightly punches Ben. “To be honest, yes, Kylo is the reason I even talked to him in the first place, so I guess I have Galaxy Battles to thank for this man in my life.”

“That concludes the interview. Thank you so much for your time. Your agents will review the interview before publishing. Have a good day!” The interviewer hurries away.

“Bravo! That was great! You _almost_ made me believe this is the real deal.” Poe lowers his voice and turns Ben and Rey. “I’ll keep you informed if we need anything else.” Poe nods and leaves.

Rey stands up and laughs looking at Ben. “I’m the other half of your soul?! What was that about?” 

Ben rubs his nape and chuckles. “Yeah, I didn’t know what to say, so I went over the lines Kylo told Kira.”

“Ah, I knew that it sounded familiar!” Rey gasps.

“So you want to join on set today?” Ben turns to Rey with his pleading eyes.

“Does that mean I can finally see Kylo Ren in real life?!” Rey says excitedly.

“But I am Kylo Ren!” Ben almost shouts.

“No, you’re not!” Rey snaps back.


	8. The sketch

_Whatever is going on between us is weird, right? With everything we’ve done, I’d say we’re actually dating. But he never dates anyone for this long and we need a few more months, so it’s probably better if we keep a healthy distance. So from now on–_ Rey’s thoughts are interrupted when they arrive at the movie studio. 

Ben clears his throat as they enter the building. “So, this is a sketch about Kylo Ren trying to have a better relationship with his employees. I’ll be doing a parody of him, not actually portraying him. I just wanted to clear that up.” 

“Just shut up, don’t ruin this.” Rey sighs. She is still mulling over the events at the photoshoot. While at the time it had been even a bit exciting, now it just seems plain stupid. _He always gets me so worked up._

They enter a small set that looks just like the First Order spaceship in the movies. Rey looks around in awe. _It was my biggest dream to be in the franchise or have one of my songs on the soundtrack, but this is good enough._

“You can sit here and grab something to eat while I get in costume.” Ben gestures to an area, where she spots other actors, one of them the famous Finn Storm.

“Finn!” Rey exclaims and runs up to him. “I haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?”

“Rey! Hey!” Finn pulls her into a big hug. “I’m great. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, um I don’t know if you know, but I’m kinda dating Ben Solo.” Rey smiles awkwardly. _I’m definitely not used to saying that._

“You and Ben?! When did that happen?” Finn’s face is an actual question mark.

“Well, we actually met at your birthday party and have been seeing each other ever since.” She looks at the ground. _I feel a bit bad about lying to him. It’s one thing to lie to people you don’t know, but to your friends? Actually, screw it, we rarely hang out anymore._

“Really? I thought he was seeing someone else at the time. Oh well, congrats I guess.” Finn shrugs and chuckles. “But I do have to warn you about him. He doesn’t let anyone get too close to him and he might lose his temper at times. That’s why his relationships never last.” Finn gives Rey a worried look.

“We have made it this far, haven’t we, but don’t worry I can take care of myself. Thanks, though!” Rey smiles and puts her hand on Finn’s shoulder.

As if on cue Ben pops up and lifts Rey up from behind, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Rey squeals and has a mini heart attack. “Are you trying to kill me?!”

“No, I’d never let that happen, sweetheart.” He turns her around and pulls her close, so he can give her a gentle kiss on the lips. Rey is puzzled. _What is going on? I think we might need some ground rules._ “Oh, hey, Finn! I see you’re already acquainted with my girlfriend.” Ben says while keeping his grip around Rey tight. _Is he jealous? Of Finn?_

“So, what do you think?” Ben shows off his outfit. He is wearing the classic Kylo black tunic with a belt over the stomach, black pants, boots and his iconic cape.

Rey can’t help but smile at that. “You’re only missing the mask.”

Ben's face falls. “You really can’t stand my face, huh?”

“Yes, I’d rather not look at your stupid face.” Rey laughs as she moves closer to him. This is the part, where she would usually kiss the guy, but _no, we need to do some distancing and not get carried away._

Rey turns around and looks at Finn who has been staring at their entire exchange eyes wide. “Anyways, sorry, where were we?” 

“Places, everyone!” Someone yells and Ben and Finn hurry to take their spots. The person who might be a director is giving them notes. Rey walks to the snack table and grabs a banana and some pretzels. She hasn’t eaten since her early morning breakfast, so she is starving. Rey walks to the chair with a tag Ben Solo in the back and sits down munching on the pretzels. _This is so exciting!_ She loves watching Ben and Finn rehearse, even laughs a little bit too loud at their jokes for the bit. She peels her banana when someone yells “Action!”. 

Ben walks through a short corridor, his cape dramatically flopping behind, some stormtroopers following him. “Cut! That was perfect. Let’s move on.” Rey watches them work amazed, forgetting her banana in hand. Now Ben and Finn have a dialogue and they are standing a lot closer to where Rey is sitting. Ben glances over to Rey and smiles at her. She waves back and notices the banana in her hand and snorts. She starts to take a big bite and hears “Action!”. She looks up, while she bites down and sees Ben staring at her. Ben is frozen, staring at her, so Rey furrows her eyebrows and waves at him again. 

Finn hisses. “Ben! It’s your turn, man, stop staring at your girlfriend!” 

Ben turns to Finn and coughs into his hand. “Yes, sorry, let’s do it again.”

Rey eats her banana and watches them film all sorts of scenes. There’s a scene where Ben gets angry and slashes a wall with his lightsaber. _That was pretty funny._ Then he uses the force to throw someone out of the window. He also strangles someone. _Bloody, my boy Kylo has issues._

When they’re done, Ben walks up to Rey. “You’re right, you’re a distraction.”

“How?!” Rey rolls her eyes.

He picks up a banana from the fruit tray and hands it to her. “That’s how.”

“Oh, please. Get your mind out of the gutter!” She starts laughing. “That’s why you froze and kept glancing at me! I think you might have some issues.”

Ben mocks her. “I think you have some issues.” He leans over and kisses her temple lightly and whispers. “But if you distract or tease me like that again, I will actually rip off your clothes at any time any place.”

Rey is now baffled. _The audacity of this man!_ “You’re the one doing even more than teasing or what do you call that trick you did this morning at the photoshoot?!”

“At least you got some pleasure out of it.” Ben shrugs and starts walking away.

But Rey hurries after him, keeping her voice down. “What pleasure?! Leaving me hot and wanting more!?”

Ben turns to her abruptly and licks his lips. “You want more? That can be arranged.”

“This is a bad idea. If we actually want to pull this off, you have to keep it together!” Rey points at him, keeping her voice low. 

Ben pushes Rey against a nearby wall and she yelps. Ben’s voice is low and deep, his one hand placed on the wall and the other slightly strokes Rey’s cheek. “If you don’t know yet, I’m also passionate about what I do. And if I have to _fake_ do you, I will.”

He straightens himself and takes Rey’s hand leading her to his dressing room. She is too terrified to say anything, but tries to seem happy to anyone who passes by. _Finn warned me about his short temper, I should take that more seriously._

They reach his dressing room. “I could just stay outside and wait for you.” Rey speaks up quietly.

“No, I don’t want you wandering around here.” Ben starts undressing by losing his cape, kicking off his boots.

“Why? So I don’t bump into someone like Finn? Did you get jealous of my acquaintance?” Rey murmurs.

“And why on Earth should I be jealous. We’re _fake_ dating, remember?” Ben snorts, but still looks frustrated.

“You’re right, you have no reason to be jealous, because I’m also _the best_ fake girlfriend you’ll ever have, I’m gonna be so _fake_ loyal to you that it’s ridiculous.” Rey takes a step closer to him and smiles and lifts his chin up. _I need to tame the beast._ “But we need to set some ground rules. This is getting too confusing.” She takes a few steps back.

“What rules do you propose?” Ben pulls the tunic over his head and strips down his pants. He is standing there just in his boxers.

Rey crosses her arms. “Like no inappropriate touching without _permission_ , no _teasing_ or _distracting_ in public, no flirting or sleeping with others. I’ll think of some more.”

Ben chuckles. “Are you gonna make me sign some agreement? What is my punishment if I break a rule?”

Rey’s emotions begin to boil. “I’m trying to make this work and you’re already thinking about jeopardizing this?! Fine! Let’s make a deal! We survive until the deadline and we can have mind-blowing sex and then we’ll never have to see each other again! But if you break a rule, you don't get a piece of this arse. Does that get your interest?”

Ben frowns. “I really have to wait that long?” He shakes his head. “Fine! Whatever you want. It doesn’t have to be so complicated, I just thought we might as well have some fun. Why don’t I drop you off at your place.”

-

It’s been two and a half days of Reylo being _official_ . Rey draws herself a bath and throws in a Lush bath bomb, because she is mentally so exhausted. It’s been such an emotional roller coaster with Ben. In one hand she holds her phone while scrolling on Instagram and with the other she sips wine. Suddenly she sees Ben’s first post, which was taken today on set with Finn in costume. _When did they take that??_ The caption says _Is Kylo back?_ Rey snorts. “Such a tease.” She leaves a comment with a heart emoji that has an arrow going through.

She sips more wine and posts an Instagram story of her bath. The picture is simple, but enticing, some bath bubbles covering her private parts, while her legs are tan and visible and her hand is holding out the glass of wine. She adds bubble stickers and writes _A long day needs to end with pleasure <3 _. 

She exhales deeply and leans her head back against the bathtub. _Too much happened today._

Her phone vibrates and there's a reaction to her Story from Ben. A fire emoji. _Yes, that man can burn in a fire for all I care._


	9. When he is out of town

It has been three days since Rey last interacted with Ben. There have been no sent messages between them and Rey is actually disappointed. Luckily, she has been busy, so has Ben. Ben left the city to film for three weeks and Rey is preparing for her album release tour. 

But because she craves that man’s attention, she becomes more active on Instagram by posting her outfits of the day, trying extra hard to look hot. She also posts stories and pictures with melancholic or deep captions, which actually makes some of her fans worried. She can’t get him out of her head and wants him to want her like she wants him. _Wait, no! I don’t like him like that. We’re friends, no, we’re co-workers and this a professional affair._ But still she can’t help herself from posting that bikini pic, knowing it will be the only thing on his feed.

It’s been another four days and Rey is constantly distracted by checking her phone every two minutes. At some point Poe even takes it from her, but Rey becomes extremely feral and now they have a mutual understanding that the phone shall not be touched. 

The magazine they posed for has been making record sales. Fans went crazy when they saw Rey and Ben almost naked looking super sexy in each other's arms. The interview, which was a lot less tense than the pictures, tells a sweeter side of their story and now everyone can’t get enough of the two. Like Poe said, they don’t even have to do much more. Ben or maybe Phasma however decides he should do some promo for the interview and he posts the picture, where they were smiling or more like him smirking and Rey trying to keep it together. He writes the caption _Wouldn’t have anyone else by my side_ . Rey only rolls her eyes when she sees that, yet comments _babe <3\. _ So it’s been a week and their only interaction is through a social media post. 

-

It’s been two weeks now since they last saw each other. Rey is losing her mind a little bit, so she tries to shake it off and forget about him by drowning herself in work, but all the preparations are done and she has a night off. _I can’t be alone tonight._ She calls Kaydel and invites her out for some drinks, which she happily accepts. 

“Hey, _girl_! What is up?!” Kaydel runs to Rey once she sees her at the overpriced lounge, which is mostly popular for its luxe aesthetics and frequently visited by celebrities or other wealthy people. “I got us into VIP, so don’t worry, there won’t be any men stealing you from Mr. Solo.” She gives Rey the side eye and drags her towards red velvet ropes.

Rey licks her lips nervously and clutches her glass of wine. “I’m so glad you could come out tonight. I really needed your company.”

Kaydel and Rey sit down in a secluded booth. “Hey, I came out like years ago! Ha, I feel you. But cheers to not being lonely tonight!” Glasses clink and the drinks are sipped. “I want to ask you though. You and Ben weren’t together during my show, right? You’re not a good liar.” Kaydel turns to Rey with a serious look.

Rey looks around and takes a deep breath before settling back on Kaydel. “Please don’t tell anyone. Our reputation is riding on this. This was just a stupid idea Poe came up with and now I’m suddenly _dating_ Ben Solo. We’re only doing this because my dumb arse dissed him on Live.” Rey rolls her eyes and sips some more wine.

“Damn lucky! Can Poe set me up with Rose Tico? My reputation always needs saving.” Kaydel laughs and sighs dramatically, when her eyes widen as she remembers. “But wait, you made out with him?!”

Rey scrunches her nose. “Yeah, we were trying to sell it.”

“I mean I would’ve been sold, if I hadn’t known you.” Kaydel flips her hair and takes a sip.

Rey leans back and sighs. “It’s just so strange that I had the biggest crush on him and now… I’m not sure what I feel about him. It’s like you have this idea of someone in your head and when you actually see what they’re really like... The illusion is gone and they are a completely different person.”

Kaydel looks at Rey in disbelief. “So you’re telling me you get to date your major crush and now you’re not feeling it?! Could you describe exactly what you feel about him then?” 

“He irritates me, he challenges me, annoys me and his mood swings aren’t easy to keep up with, but... He has also been supportive and considerate... Though mostly he is really sexual.” Kaydel almost spits out her drink.

“Is he as big as they say?” Kaydel laughs.

Rey giggles and makes wild eyes at Kay. “I don’t know. We haven’t done anything like that, but I can tell you his bulge is quite… Girthy.”

"But looking at your magazine shoot, you should thank me for getting you an arm candy built like that." Kaydel winks.

"Oh, shut up." Rey rolls her eyes and blushes.

They spend the night talking a bit more about Ben and then mostly catch up and gossip. Rey feels so good sharing the current situation and getting some weight off of her shoulders. _I just hope she doesn’t expose us._ Of course, another mandatory Story goes up, which the bouncer took like a hundred times, because Kaydel and Rey found faults in every picture.

She gets home and isn’t ready to end the day yet. _Do I actually miss him? Maybe I’m just that lonely and want someone here with me, he just happens to be my current victim._ Rey changes into her pj’s and puts on some music. She starts singing and dancing alone. Soon enough she is filming it on her phone as she dramatically reenacts “My loneliness is killing me… and I-i I must confess, I still believe, still believe, when I’m not with you I lose my mind, give me a si-i-i-ign… Hit me baby one more time!” She laughs and turns off the camera. _This is definitely going on my Story._

  
  


About ten minutes later she receives a message. “I’m sorry I’m not there to keep you company right now. I’ll make it up to you.”

A picture is received.

Rey looks at her phone, eyes widened. _Did he just send me a dick pic?_

“Your video made that happen ;)”

“New phone, who dis?” Rey sends and quickly throws her phone on the couch. 

-

In the morning Rey groans. Two bottles of wine really wasn’t a good idea. She turns and falls out of her bed. _Ouch!_ _Ugh I’m a mess._ She literally crawls to the kitchen, because the thirst is real and she quickly downs a glass of water. After she manages to complete her morning routine, she sees another text from Ben.

“You drink a lot of wine.”

Rey huffs and types. “Hmm, I don’t know, is every night a lot lol”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“No.”

Suddenly her phone starts vibrating. Ben Solo wants to FaceTime her. Rey quickly presses Deny, but her finger manages to slip on Accept and now her confused face is met with Ben’s.


	10. Some friendly chats

“Hi, Ben!” Her voice is high pitched. “What a surprise!” She puts on a fake smile. “Are you gonna lecture me about my drinking?”

Ben chuckles and sighs. He seems to be in costume as his hair is slicked back in a way he usually doesn’t and he’s wearing a white shirt _with_ _blood stains on it?_ “Well, you wouldn’t listen to me anyway, but actually I’m calling about something else.” 

“About that picture you sent me last night?” She asks hesitantly.

“No, though I thought that might help keep you company till I come back, sweetheart.” He smirks mischievously. “I have a red carpet event coming up and I wanted to ask you if you would be my date, because well we are  _ dating _ .” He chuckles with slight nervousness.

Rey exaggerates. “Are you asking me out?! Ben, I thought you’d never ask! I’d love to!” She smiles and laughs. “But first send all the info to Poe and he’ll let you know if I’m available.”

“You don’t know your own schedule?” Ben rolls his eyes.

“Why would I bother? There’s too much to keep up with.” She shrugs.

“Okay, I’ll do that. Then Phasma also thought we should do another casual outing or a date in public before the event.”

“So this is all Phasma’s plan and not you actually wanting me to be your date?” Rey says with defeat, but quickly covers it with a playful smile. “Benny boy, this is not how you ask a woman out, it makes me wonder how’d you snag all those gorgeous women before me?” 

“Ha, trust me, your panties will drop the second I turn my charm on.”

“Oof, now that’s something I’d like to see.” Rey smirks. “But how is filming?”

“It’s going great, though we’re shooting everything back to back, so it’s pretty intense. Currently I’m waiting for them to prep for a sex scene.” His focus seems to be elsewhere now.

Rey eyebrows shoot up. “A sex scene? With who?”

“Bazine. She’s such a diva, keeping the entire production waiting after her, because her hair wasn’t just like she wanted.” Ben sighs, running a hand through his hair.

Rey shifts uncomfortably and gulps. “Bazine? As in your ex-girlfriend slash supermodel?” 

“Is that a hint of jealousy I detect?” Ben turns back to Rey with a grin.

“No, just clarifying. It’s probably not fun to work with your ex.” 

Ben shrugs. “It’s whatever, we were never that serious anyway, I only interact with her for our scenes.”

“Oh.” Rey sighs with relief.

“I have to go now, they fixed her hair. Let me know then when you’re available in a week. Bye, sweetie.” He says in a hurry before ending the call.

“Yup, bye.” Rey sets her phone down slowly.  _ He is going to be making out with Bazine and touching her and ugh… I’m not jealous, I just feel bad for him, though it’s his job, it’s what he does, he has done it many times, but he has also done it in real life with her… _

She opens Bazine’s profile and sees her flawless pictures with long tan legs and slim figure. Rey chews on her lower lip and decides it’s time for a workout and a smoothie. Thinking about Ben and Bazine is actually a great motivator for Rey to push her limits in a way she hasn’t pushed before and gets praises from her trainer. However this time she chooses a Blueberry Blaster instead of her usual. Something to feel closer to Ben.  _ It’s all for the show, if paparazzi snap photos of me and they see I’m drinking the same one Ben did, it will only make the fans swoon. If they actually notice though… _

A week to go until they actually have to enter the playing field again. Rey gets a green light from Poe for the red carpet event and starts choosing her dress, wanting it to stun Ben. 

She texts him. “What will you be wearing for the event? We should match.”

“A black suit probably.” She gets a quick reply.

“Boooring. I found this beautiful navy dress, maybe you could wear a navy suit?”

“Sure.”

She smiles to herself. “Great. What do you think about a Disneyland date?”

“Seriously? You just want to go to the Galaxy Battles rides, right?”

She purses her lips and giggles like a teenager.  _ And we aren’t even actually dating!!  _ “I mean I already have their best ride... But YES!! I also want that red lightsaber and to flirt with the Kylo cosplayer.”

“It’s a date.”


	11. Disneyland date

Today is the day they finally get together after three weeks. They arrive separately and use a _backdoor_ entrance, so they won’t be bothered by fans. They also have a third wheel on their date – a bodyguard – to keep them safe.

“Hi.” Rey finally says once they’re inside and smiles.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Ben pulls her in for a hug and kisses her cheek. “How have you been?”

“Well, as you’ve seen, I’m in my prime.” Rey chuckles awkwardly. _I missed his warm body and his hands on mine..._ “How about you?”

“I think we just established that small talk is pointless.” Ben chuckles and takes her hand while they walk.

“Shall we talk about our deepest darkest secrets and fears, then?” Rey smirks at Ben. “Oh, there it is!” She squeals and points to a big Galaxy Battles sign that is hanging over an archway and behind it various space themed rides. Rey practically runs there, pulling a 6’3 Ben behind her. “I can’t believe this is real, we’re really here!!” She looks around in awe.

Ben rolls his eyes unimpressed. “Same.”

“Where should we go first?! TIE Fighter ride, The Exegol Experience or Journey Through Stars??” She finally looks up at Ben, expectantly.

“How about we don’t go on any rides and just buy some ice cream and make out behind a bush?”

Rey rolls her eyes and drags Ben to the first ride. “Hey, you signed up for this! Now, be a good boyfriend and hold my hand while I scream.”

Ben stays quiet for most of the rides and looks like he would be anywhere but here. Rey however is having the time of her life. _What a grump._

“You’re an actor, could you maybe put a little effort into looking like you’re enjoying this date with your _super sexy_ girlfriend.” Rey wiggles her eyebrows.

Ben raises an eyebrow. “Are you saying my super sexy girlfriend thinks I’m not thrilled to be here with her?”

Rey lightly punches him. “Yes. This–” Before she can continue, Rey spots _him_. The love of her life. In his full form and she is already running. 

“Supreme Leader Kylo Ren! It is an honour to meet you! I would take your hand any day!” Rey is beaming and a little too enthusiastic for meeting an impersonator.

“Ah, I see. Together we can rule the galaxy. No more Sith, no more Jedi. Let the past die!” Kylo Ren says just as dramatically as in the movies. By that time Ben makes his way to Rey and rests his hand on her waist as if he is claiming her.

“I see my clone is doing a fine job keeping everything in order.” Ben smirks and Kylo Ren freezes for a moment.

“Yes, Supreme Leader, they don’t suspect a thing. Your brilliant plan is working.” Kylo Ren stands still and gives Ben a little nod.

“That’s wonderful.” Ben seems amused.

Rey has been staring at their exchange with her eyes wide and mouth open. “Can we take a picture with you?” She quickly says and turns to their bodyguard and hands her phone to him. “Could you take a picture of us, please?”

They pose with Kylo Ren’s impersonator who is actually the one starstruck and fangirling. Rey captions the picture _With my main man and Ben_. 

“Aah, I love this place.” She smiles at Ben, ready to take on the rest of the park.

“It’s fine I guess, but too many people and little children around... it's all a little bit suffocating.” Ben plays a little with his shirt collar.

Rey squeezes his arm. “Hey, if you need a breather, let me know.”

Ben exhales deeply, nods and takes her hand. “The show must go on.” _Right the show..._

Then they stop at a merch store where they buy matching Galaxy Battles t-shirts. They make their way to an ice cream truck and order three soft serve ice creams (one for their bodyguard, cause they’re so sweet) which makes a mess since it’s pretty warm outside and the ice cream doesn’t show them any mercy, while they’re desperately trying to lick any drips.

Rey looks at Ben and holds back a giggle. “You have ice cream on your upper lip.”

“Here?” He licks his lips.

“No, left.”

He takes his ice cream and smears it all over his lips “How about now?”

Rey laughs. “You’re a mess.”

“Could you help me with that?” His eyes darken as his smirk grows.

Rey grabs her tissue and lifts her hand to meet his lips, but he stops her hand and says “No, not like that.” He leans down to her.

Rey gulps and hesitantly moves forward poking her tongue slightly out and gently touches his lower lip. He immediately pulls her into an open mouthed kiss. All they taste is the bland soft serve ice cream, but somehow that’s Rey’s new favourite flavour now. For a hot moment she forgets that they are literally standing in a very public place with a lot of people around, the iconic castle in the background while they’re sharing a passionate sweet kiss, eyes closed like the world around them does not exist. There are a few whistles and Rey pulls away. Ben slightly follows her lips, but catches up with his surroundings.

“That didn’t help much.” Rey quickly wipes away their kiss from his and then her lips with a tissue.

Soon after their makeout they leave. _Together_. Ben’s car is brought to their exit and they both enter.

“So, what happens now?” Rey says after a few silent minutes. _What are we doing? Where are we going?_

“How long have we been fake dating?” Ben keeps his eyes on the road.

“According to the media, about three or four months, but actually about a month.” Rey quickly calculates in her head.

Ben sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t think I can do this much longer.”

Rey is hit by a wave of disappointment and hurt. “Oh.”

He glances at Rey. “I might not last two more months without getting you naked.”

“Oh.” Rey says in surprise and lowkey disgust.

“Like I said we might as well make it fun.” He winks. 

“And like I said it’s not a good idea. Look at how long your previous flings lasted, we can't afford that.” Rey gulps and looks at him perplexed.

“This arrangement is different though!” Ben raises his voice a little, clearly frustrated.

“I don’t think so! Can’t you really keep it in your pants for just two more months?!” Rey sounds almost desperate.

“You wanna know why my relationships never last?!” Ben abruptly stops the car in his driveway. 

“Yes!” 

“Because they always want more! Like let’s get to know each other’s deepest darkest secrets, let’s start planning a future together, let’s move in together! I don’t want that and I end things. Also they usually lasted a bit longer than the media claims.” Ben huffs and collects himself for a moment before stepping out of the car.

Rey follows him inside the house. “Well, then I guess our arrangement is a bit different... But why don’t you let anyone get close to you? You can always use some friends in your life.” She stops in the foyer.

Ben also stops and turns around to face her. “Because… when people get to know me, the real me, they usually don’t like it, but stay for my fame and fortune. Nobody actually cares about me.” He begins to turn away.

“Ben.” She grabs his hands and looks at him with puppy dog eyes. “Let me in, let me be your friend, I don’t want your fame and fortune.”

Ben looks at Rey with a defeated look in his eyes, but the corners of his mouth twitch a little upwards. “Did my girlfriend just friendzone me??” 

Rey lets out a little laugh. “I’m serious though. I understand you, cause I’m in a similar place and I know I could really use a friend.” She hasn’t been this honest and sincere with anyone in a while. “Everyone I care about always leaves…”

Ben processes her words and emotions for a few seconds before he hugs her, almost pushing her over. “Okay, fine. You’re not alone.” He whispers into her hair.

She smiles into his shirt. “Neither are you.”


	12. Skinny dip

“Do you want to take a dip in the pool? It’s pretty hot outside.” Ben steps inside the house after checking his backyard.

“I’d love to, but I don’t have a bikini with me.” Rey shrugs and turns towards the kitchen. “Or is this your plan to get me naked?” Rey eyes Ben suspiciously.

Ben grins while he makes his way to the fridge. “Maybe, but I support that idea.”

She looks outside and remembers the sun burning on her skin. “Hmm… I am tempted though.”

Ben smirks. “You want something to drink?”

“White wine please.” Rey smiles as she pleads.

“But you can go and get in the pool, I won’t look, I promise.” Ben opens the fridge.

Rey lifts her chin up, playfully smirks and walks to the pool. She quickly looks around to check if there are any cameras or is Ben hiding somewhere, but no signs of both. Rey sheds her clothes and jumps into the pool. The temperature became unbearably hot, so it’s good they left Disneyland when they did. Cool water was exactly what she needed to clear her head after the conversation she had with Ben. _Turns out we’re both lonely and with issues. What a pair!_

Ben steps outside with two glasses in his hands. He is now wearing only swimming trunks and sunglasses. _Oh, wow he is so pale._

“Here’s your drink.” Ben walks up to the pool, where Rey pushes herself against the wall to cover herself. Luckily the pool isn't deep enough, so her feet reach the ground.

She picks up the wine glass and stares at it warily. “This is water.”

“Or vodka. You won’t know until you try.” Ben chuckles and sits down by the edge of the pool, putting his feet in the water.

Rey takes a sip of her water, which is exactly what she needed. “I’m pretty sure I was promised wine.”

“It’s too early for wine, also what do you think about a little rehab from wine, just something to try. I’m worried about you… as a friend.” He grins.

“How sweet of you. Although then it’d be easier to get me into your bed.” She winks, taking another sip from her glass.

“How tempting, but I think I’m doing perfectly fine now, considering you’re naked in my pool.” He jumps in and moves closer to Rey who quickly tries to cover her private parts with her hands.

“Hey! You promised not to look.” Rey starts walking backwards. _If I climb out, he will see too much. But he pretty much saw all of me at the shoot and even touched me. No, not yet._

“I’m looking into your eyes.” Ben keeps moving forward.

“You’re wearing sunglasses!” She yelps as she reaches the end of the pool and Ben catches up with her and is standing real close, almost looming over her.

“It’s not like I haven’t seen you, your lingerie barely covered you and those recent bikini pictures you posted! Damn, they left little to imagination.”

“It’s unfair though! You still have these on.” She pulls the hem of his trunks.

Ben quickly gets rid of his trunks and throws them on the grass.

_Fuck, this was a bad idea. Now his dick is fluttering around._

Rey gulps.”You wanna know why I don’t want to sleep with you?”

Ben just simply nods.

“I don’t have meaningless sex, I don’t like flings or one night stands. I have sex with someone I trust and care about, I don't give them just my body, but all of me, so unless we fall in love and trust each other, I don’t see it happening. It’s not that I don’t want to do it, it’s just complicated.” Rey bites her lip. _It’s not like I don’t want to ride his floating cock that just touched my thigh… Or kiss his face right now._

“Okay, I respect that. But what about our deal to have mind-blowing sex at the end?”

“Maybe by that time we’ll be better friends and I can trust you with this.” Rey bites her lip and shrugs. “I don’t know, okay, I just needed to keep you interested.”

“And you think that only sex interests me?” He almost laughs.

“That’s all you talk about, getting me naked and in your bed.” Rey rolls her eyes.

“Hmm… Yeah, but now you presented me with a much more interesting challenge, so I might take you up on that.” Ben smirks and takes off his sunglasses.

“What challenge?” Rey furrows her eyebrows.

“Getting you to trust me and fall in love with me.” He strokes her cheek with his thumb. _The audacity of this man!_ “Can I still kiss you though?”

“Is this your master plan? Make me fall in with you by kisses and deep conversations, so in two months we can fuck and then you move onto the next one?” Rey spits out in disgust.

“No, I just need to live out my frustrations and you’re my only allowed victim for the next two months. But deep conversations work on you? Okay, good to know.” He smirks and picks her up, so she gasps and her legs clung to his waist and his hands grabbing her ass cheeks. His dick is resting against her entrance, but she's pretty sure it will be bigger and harder soon. _Fuck! Also why do I feel weirdly safe in his arms right now?_

Rey's arms fall on his shoulders. "What now?"

He pushes her on the edge of the pool as she yelps. _I think my life flashed before my eyes._ Now she is sitting on the edge of the pool while he is in the pool staring between her thighs. Rey quickly closes them, but he stops her with his hands. "I want to see the goods. If it's worth it."

She gasps. "You don't think I'm worth it!?"

"I'm kidding, of course you are, but now I also saw what's waiting for me and I can say that I'm pleased." He puts his hands on the edge of the pool on both sides of Rey and pushes himself up, so he's hovering above her staring deep into her eyes.

"I guess you can now think my body in great detail when you are jerking off." Rey smirks.

"And there's my dirty girl, I missed her today." He gives her a peck and climbs out of the pool.

His dick is just at her eye level as he walks by her and Rey quickly looks at the pool, still sitting there.

Ben chuckles. "Now you have something to think about too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The issues come out and I don't want Ben to be a dick but I also want them to be nasty


	13. The red carpet event part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the sweet comments and kudos!! I've been so busy with work lately and haven't had the time to write more. I'm also open to any date ideas...

Rey is still naked and sitting by the pool. Ben is sunbathing in the lounge area. She stands up and walks over to him, not hiding anything from him anymore “I’d like a towel, please.” 

“Come here and let the sun dry you.” Ben just lays there in all his glory, eyes closed.

Rey grunts and crosses her arms.

Ben opens his eyes and squints at Rey. “Have I told you yet that you're gorgeous?”

Rey rolls her eyes. “You’re just horny.”

Ben smirks and closes his eyes again. “Possible.”

She picks up her clothes and steps inside to change. Poe calls her and wakes her from the daydream this day has been.

“Nice job at Disney. Really killing this you two! Doing my job for me, but don't worry I'll pick up my slack soon. Don't forget to pick up your dress today for tomorrow!” And he quickly hangs up.

_Right, the event tomorrow..._

She takes one step outside and looks over to Ben. “Hey! Try not to get a sunburn, you wouldn’t look cute tomorrow if you match with the carpet.”

“Yeah, yeah… Wait, you're leaving?” Ben turns to lay on his stomach.

“Well, yes. We already entertained the public and I also have to prepare for tomorrow, so bye! I’ll see you in your navy suit!” Rey gives him a small smile and waves to him. Ben is leaning on his elbows, while he gives her a small wave. With that she leaves.

-

Rey feels extremely glamorous with her sleek wavy hair, dark red lips and long silky navy dress that has a slit exposing her left leg. _I’m not sure if I’ve ever looked this good._

She is feeling slightly nervous. Kind of like it’s high school prom night and you’re not sure if your date will show up. Rey and Ben are supposed to meet up at her place and then ride together to the event. She takes like a 100 selfies, because she shouldn’t waste this flawless hair and make-up. She stops when she hears a knock and her heart skips a beat. Rey hurries to the front door and opens it. Her flashing smile falls completely when there’s a ginger man standing instead of Ben. 

“Hello, my name is Hux. I’m Ben Solo’s personal assistant. We are ready to leave for the event.” He smiles.

Rey quickly tries to look polite as she nods. _Ah, a fellow brit. But Ben couldn’t be cute and show up at my doorstep himself?! Why should he? This is fake, this is stupid, whatever._

“I’ll be there in a minute.” She smiles and shuts the door in Hux’s face. Rey grabs her tiny clutch and looks everything over in the mirror. _I’m looking like a goddess tonight and Ben won’t ruin this for me._

She opens the door and Hux is there waiting for her. He leads her to a fancy car and opens the door for her.

As she carefully climbs inside, she is greeted by Ben Solo staring at his phone and mumbling. “Hi, babe.”

“Wow, you look lovely tonight.” Rey says politely, but oozing out sarcasm as the car drives off.

She takes a deep breath in and out, looks out of the window to center herself. _It took me half a day to get ready and he doesn’t even look at me. What an arse. The worst fake boyfriend ever. Why did I ever think I might actually like him?_

“Sorry, I had to rearrange my schedule to fit a charity event.” He turns off his phone and slides it into his suit pocket and finally turns to Rey who feels neglected. “Oh, have I told you yet that you're gorgeous?”

Rey glances at him, but continues to look out of the window. “No.” She quietly says. _I’m mad at him for trying to be charitable. Great, that’s just great! This is why I’m single! Cause I’m stupid and I jump to conclusions._

Rey is having an inner battle with herself, so she doesn’t notice when Ben scoots to the middle seat and puts his one arm around her shoulder and the other hand on her bare thigh. His face is really close to hers now as she feels his hot breath on her.

“Why is the other half of my soul in such distress. Have I done something to displease her?” He says with a low grumble, but with such innocence that she wants to punch him in his face.

Rey tenses under his hands, but continues to look away, doing everything in her power to avoid his gaze. “I’m fine.” She spits out. “I just spent the whole day getting ready for an event that’s not even for my cause... But again it _is_ all my fault, because I had to do that dumb Q&A.” She sighs heavily and shakes his hands off of her. “Also keep your boyfriend energy for the public.”

They reach the carpet in a long quiet minute. Ben breaks the silence. “You look absolutely beautiful, not just tonight, but all the time. Yes, we’re in this mess, because of you, but I don’t regret anything. It has done wonders for our publicity, but you’re also amazing and I’m glad I have a friend like you. Don’t forget to smile for the cameras.” Ben gives her shoulder a quick kiss and smiles at her before opening the car door and taking her hand to lead her out to the carpet that is blinded by hundreds of flashes.

Ben knew exactly what buttons to push to cheer her up and now she is beaming in front of the cameras. They stand there on the carpet looking fierce. Ben pulls Rey closer by the waist where he rests his hand. Their matching navy suit and dress almost makes them blend into each other and they’re standing so close it’s hard to tell where Ben ends and Rey begins, but they look amazing, like the photographers keep telling them.

After a couple of minutes on the red carpet, they’re already ushered inside. There’s a huge auditorium, many speeches and applause and it’s already the afterparty. Rey mostly replays what Ben had said to her and has another internal breakdown about everything. Ben seems to be calm and focuses on the speeches, but Rey doesn’t notice his secret glances at her as they’re sitting next to each other.

In the pictures of the afterparty they look a little bit crazy in love, because their hands are constantly on each other. How did that happen?? There is an open bar and Rey is the first one there. Since tonight is different, Rey drinks champagne for a change of scenery and Ben joins her. 

“We should stay here at least for an hour and then we can leave if you want.” Ben sips his drink and surveys the crowd.

“No worries, eating, drinking and mingling is something I can definitely do longer. If that’s what you want.” Rey grins.

“Oh, I’ll happily eat, drink and mingle with you.” Ben smiles and winks at Rey.

Rey looks at her bubbly glass. “But I appreciate your kind words to me in the car, we definitely wouldn’t have looked so happy and in love otherwise.”

Ben now fully focuses on Rey. “What I said was the truth. Do what you want with that.”

She smiles and lifts her eyes to meet his. “Aw, are you now going to say that the ball is in my court?”

“Well, it kind of is, isn’t it?” Ben chuckles and takes another sip.

Rey smiles smugly. “Then great, I like to have that kind of power over a man like you, Mr. Solo.”

Ben raises his eyebrow. “Would you care to comment on what makes a man like me?”

Rey slightly panics and her cheeks redden. “No, I would not.” She quickly chugs her glass of champagne.

A live jazz band begins their show and everyone moves to the dance floor.

Ben swiftly takes the glass from Rey’s hand and places it on a table nearby. 

He holds out his hand to Rey. “Would my love care for a dance?”

Rey rolls her eyes and only lies to herself, when she says she definitely didn’t melt at that. She takes his big hand and he instantly pulls her against his chest with his other hand on her waist, slowly slipping down to her hip.

They start swaying to the music. It’s slow and sensual, they fit together so well. Rey’s neck gets tired from looking up to hold Ben’s gaze, because he is still that tall, even when she’s wearing high heels. She checks out the room. Mostly everyone is enjoying the company of their significant others. _Will I ever find my match? Will I ever feel butterflies flutter in my stomach, because of someone who lights up my life the moment they walk in?_

She sighs heavily. 

“What are you thinking about?” Ben says quietly.

“Oh, just about being in love... Have you ever been?” She asks bluntly.

“In love? Huh… I guess not. There was once a girl about whom I really cared about, but we didn’t end on good terms. But I wouldn’t really say I loved her.” Ben moves his hand to make small circles on her back.

“Me neither. That’s a little sad, right?” She looks up at Ben.

“I think love is overrated. Everyone just wants to belong somewhere, to someone. To have someone devoted to you. I don’t think that’s healthy.” He turns his eyes away and clears his throat.

Rey is slightly shocked. “So you’d rather not belong? Have someone to care about you?”

“I’m fine the way I am.” Ben brings his eyes down to Rey again and gives her a small smile.

Rey snorts and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right! Because whatever relationships you have are so healthy!”

“I admit, it’s not ideal, but I’d never expect for anyone to stay or tolerate me for that long. I’d say that I’m being nice to anyone who might want to be with me.”

“That’s really sad though. I like to believe that there is someone for everyone.” With that she leans her head against his chest and they keep moving with the music.

  
  



	14. The red carpet event part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are they finally gonna do it?"

They sway there for who knows how long, but when a photographer snaps a photo of them, they instantly wake up and stop. Without even saying a word, they reach for another glass of champagne and then another one.

“You know what?” Rey looks up to Ben.

“What?”

She sips and smiles. “I’m glad we can talk about all these things. I wouldn’t want to do _this_ with anyone else.”

“Feelings are mutual.”

Ben and Rey raise their fourth glass of champagne and almost exhale it. With the buzz kicking in and the music picking up the tempo, people are definitely in the party mood. Someone who worked with Ben approaches them with his partner and Ben and Rey chat with them as if they’re a newly wed couple who moved to a suburban area and love having wine and game nights with their neighbours. Then Rey spots a friend of hers with whom Ben and Rey have more small talk. They're always holding onto each other like they’re afraid to lose the other. They move through the crowd chatting with anyone who recognizes them. There are also a bunch of pictures being taken and Ben and Rey always smile the brightest.

It’s been three hours now since the afterparty started and the champagne buzz is wearing off and their bodies are beginning to shut down.

“I think I’m ready to head out.” Ben sits down on a nearest chair.

“Yeah, my feet are killing me and my bed is calling me.” She lifts up her phone, which she waves in front of him and giggles.

Ben looks at her surprised and then chuckles. “Wow, you’re really lightweight.” 

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. But in reality it means less alcohol consumption and more the fun.” She hiccups and stops giggling. “Don’t tell anyone, but I might’ve taken two shots when you went to the bathroom.” 

“I knew that champagne wouldn't make you this giggly!"

She brings her index finger in front of her mouth. “Shh…It’s just between you and me.”

“Okay, let’s get you home then.” He stands up and places his hand behind her back to start leading her to the exit.

“I don’t want to go home though.” She protests.

“Why not?”

“Because then I’ll be alone.” She hiccups and pouts extremely sad.

“Do you want to come over to my place? I have a few guest rooms. You can choose.” Ben winks.

Her eyes instantly light up. “Really? Thanks! I owe you one.” She lifts up and kisses his cheek.

For a moment they both freeze and slowly turn to look at each other. Ben brings up his hand and traces his thumb over her cheek and stares at her lips. Another photo is taken. It’s from the side where Rey’s lipstick left a mark on his cheek.

“Okay, let’s get you to bed before we do something you might regret.” He grabs her hand and they reach the exit. The ride to Ben’s house is a blur for Rey. Her head is swirling with thoughts like _Why did I kiss him? It was like an instinct. I really enjoyed his company tonight. We are still just friends though. I hope I didn’t make this weird._

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t want to weird you out. It’s just that our situation is so confusing. It’s fake, but also sometimes it feels like it’s not…” Rey quickly shuts her mouth and looks away.

“Yeah, I know. But you’re right though. That we need the rules, because we still need to see this through. Don’t need more drama, right?” He hesitates.

Rey nods. “Yes, exactly. We are professionals, this is a professional relationship, this is all it needs to be, just for the public.”

“But I wouldn’t say it’s all fake…” He shyly stares at her.

Rey quickly looks at him, eyes wide. Ben leans closer. His eyes are burning holes on her lips and she can’t shake the butterflies in her stomach. She moves a little to bring herself closer to him. Those plush lips are so close, yet so far and still not on hers. The car stops. It’s like they both got an adrenaline rush and they hurry out of the car, practically running to Ben’s front door. 

They don’t even make it inside before locking lips. It’s hungry, it’s desperate, it’s scared of losing the other person. Rey’s beautiful dress has so many wrinkles by the time they reach Ben’s bedroom.

She is stumbling backwards towards his bed. Without breaking their kiss Ben pulls off his suit jacket and loosens his tie to throw it on the floor. His hands quickly find their way back to Rey’s waist, but soon enough Rey is pushed on the bed. Ben stands at the edge of the bed, unbuttoning his shirt and slipping off his shoes. Rey can’t do anything else but stare and lick her lips while she pushes off her heels. She rests on her elbows and Ben leans down to kiss her once more.

He breaks the kiss. “You sure about this?” 

She nods impatiently. “I’m clean and I’m on the pill, so…”

“I’m clean too.”

Rey reaches for his pants, unbuckles his belt and pulls down the zipper. Ben chuckles. “How the turntables…”

“Shut up!” She shuts him with a kiss and smoothly yanks down his boxer briefs. Rey is still clothed while Ben is standing there with his pants pulled down. She almost drools. His hands start moving up from her legs to lift her dress. Once he reaches her hips, Ben maneuvers a little to unzip the back of her dress and he just swiftly pulls it over her head. She is now sitting on the bed in her lingerie. 

“Always so gorgeous.” He whispers and gives her a long tender kiss.

She removes her bra and he climbs in the middle of the bed and pulls her on top of him. Their lips are locked, tongues dancing, eyes closed, hands tracing their naked bodies. She is between his legs and feels his hard dick throbbing for her touch. She is about to move her hand down to stroke it...

There are loud knocks that echo throughout the house. Ben and Rey freeze in mid kiss and reluctantly pull away.

Ben traps her in his hold for a second. Rey is the first one to speak. “Is someone at the door?”

Knocking continues and Ben lets go of Rey to roll out of the bed and put on a robe. “I’ll go check it out. You stay here, keep your phone ready.”

“Ready for what, Ben? Don’t scare me like that.” She shouts after him as he walks out of the door. She starts shaking and imagining all the worst scenarios of how someone could be here to murder him. She quickly finds her phone and picks up Ben’s shirt that he’d worn at the event and puts it on. She sneaks out of the room to try and get a view of the front door from top of the stairs. 

Ben opens the door and stares for a second. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, son! Aren’t you happy to see your old man?” Han Solo leans against the doorframe with a smug smile.

“No, not in the middle of the night!” Ben grunts.

He laughs. “Am I interrupting something?”

Ben's voice is laced with anger. “What are you doing here?? Have you been drinking?!”

Han shrugs. “I didn’t know where else to go. I’m lost.”

“What’s going on then?” Ben is impatient.

Han sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “Your mom wants a divorce.”

Ben looks on the ground and thinks for a second. “Oh… But is that really a surprise to you?”

Han huffs. “Yes! No… I just thought that we’d be together until the end. Even if we fight and say mean things to each other. I never wanted to upset her, I still love her.” He is now crying and reaching clumsily for his son, to cry on his shoulder.

Ben rolls his eyes and closes the front door. “Come in, I guess.”

Rey has been silently watching their exchange and starts to walk back to Ben’s bedroom. _Having a happy family would be too good to be true._

Ben paces up the stairs and shouts after her in a whisper. “Rey! I’m so sorry about this. My dad is a mess and clearly found the best time to visit.”

Rey gives him a sad smile. “It’s fine. I think it’s sweet he came to you.”

He brings his hand to her shoulder. “Will you still stay tonight?”

Rey looks away and shrugs. “Wouldn’t it be better if I went home?”

He shakes his head and takes a step closer. “No, it wouldn’t. It’s late and you can sleep in the guest room if you’d like.”

“I’m pretty shaken up about the frantic knocking. I thought someone came to kill you.” She chuckles quietly and bites her lip. “So I’d rather not sleep alone.”

“Great, I’ll go check on him and get him settled in and then I’ll join you in bed.” He gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and quickly runs down the stairs.

Rey hums in agreement and drags her feet to his room. She remembers that she still has make-up on and is ecstatic for a moment when she finds a face wash in Ben's bathroom. She slips under his blanket and tries to stop her hesitant thoughts. _Maybe this was a mistake. The universe telling us to stop, that this is wrong. Also the fact that it was his dad who cockblocked us. And about divorce. Just when I become hopeful…_

About ten minutes later Ben returns and pulls her close to his chest. “I wish this night ended on a different note. With you screaming my name and sweaty in my arms.” He whispers and sighs. “Good night, sweetheart.”

“Good night, Ben.” She mumbles and drifts off to sleep.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also a little The Office reference thrown in there lol


	15. The grey area

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little lost  
> a little ashamed  
> this doesn't make sense anymore  
> but has it ever been not complicated?

Rey is woken up by her phone vibrating at 6 AM. It is just a random notification, but also maybe a sign for her to get up and leave before things get complicated. Fortunately for her, Ben is quietly snoring on the other side of the bed, so she can sneak out of the bed and collect her belongings. Rey tiptoes to the bathroom and quickly zips up her dress. Before she can step out of the front door she hears a man clear his throat. For a moment her heart stops and she prays it’s not Ben. 

“Hello there.” Han says softly and smiles.

Rey turns around and smiles awkwardly. “Hi, you must be Ben’s dad. I’m Rey. Nice to meet you.”

He chuckles a bit and scratches his chin. “Leaving so early?”

She breaks his eye contact and stumbles out. “Yes, I have an early shoot to get to.”

He seems pleased with her answer. “Oh, okay. Have a nice day.”

“You too.” Rey smiles and waves as she closes the door.

-

Ben has been trying to reach her the whole day. When Rey arrived at home, she drew a bath and made plans with Poe to ensure her schedule is extremely busy and airtight for the next two months. She doesn’t plan on spending time with Ben before her album release, only as much as necessary for their appearances.

_ I know I can’t ignore him, so might as well just lay all the cards on the table, right? _

Rey sends Ben a text. “Hi, I apologize for my drunken actions last night. I won’t let that happen again. It’s best if we keep things professional.”

“It’s called method acting.”  _ Of course he’s still a dickhead. _

“We didn’t have to act at your place though…”

“Just for our own pleasure ;)” _Ugh, he used an emoji??_

“Anyways it’s better if it doesn't happen again.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“I’ll let Poe handle the details for our next appearance.”

“Can’t wait.”

She feels a heavy weight on her chest.  _ I can’t let him play with me. No matter how much I want to play with him… _

-

Their appearance at the red carpet and the afterparty are making waves on the media and there are even rumours about their upcoming wedding and pregnancy. But there are also skeptics running articles of the two splitting up and cheating on each other. Still there is so much more press about them and their separate projects than they’ve ever had before. So through everything, Poe and Phasma’s plan has been successful. 

Ben and Rey have planned a little hiking date at a popular trail. But they don’t talk much. Rey messages him before stepping out of the car that her throat hurts because of all the rehearsing and she has to save her voice. Ben just stares at her in disbelief as they meet up and start their journey.  _ It is true though, my voice needs to rest.  _ She massages her throat.

Then Ben grins. “Great. This means you can just listen to me talk.”

Rey pouts.

His hands are in his pockets and he takes long steps so Rey has to up her tempo to keep up. “You left early. My dad said he caught you. Apparently you had an early shoot. I’m thinking that was a lie, because a) you never said that you had anything the next day and b) you were drinking and enjoying the night like there was no tomorrow. Which leads me to the question: why did you leave without saying goodbye?”

Rey opens her mouth, but then shuts it and looks away.

Ben pulls out his phone. “You can just text me the answer. You’re capable of that.”

Rey rolls her eyes and sighs. She quickly types. “What happened was weird and it didn’t feel right to stay.”

Ben reads and stops in his tracks to think. “Huh. I mean yeah, there was an unexpected and unfortunate turn of events, but that still doesn’t mean you should just sneak out. I thought we were friends.”

Rey rolls her eyes once more and texts. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would affect you so much. Next time I’ll stay, then we can cuddle and you can braid my hair.” She smiles.

“Oh, you’re gonna tease me now?” Ben snaps back with a playful grin.

They snap a selfie and walk back to their cars. That short interaction seems to be enough for them to stop mulling over the previous events. A little olive branch.

  
  


-

  
  


More weeks go by and they don’t have any dates planned. Rey has been rehearsing for her album tour and she couldn’t be more grateful. She’s been too busy and tired to think about  _ him _ . Although on her daily wine drinking nights, she does miss his touch on her and wondering where that night could have taken them. She is thankful for Poe's updates about Ben, that he is filming and has many interviews coming up.

While she is taking a little break from rehearsals, she checks Twitter and sees many fans posting about Ben’s smoothie run… At her favourite place… Rey recognizes that colour… He’s drinking her favourite smoothie.  _ It’s probably random. A coincidence or he just wanted to try it, but… It also feels targeted at me.  _ Rey shakes her head and puts down her phone to get back to her choreography.  _ But two can play that game.  _ She chooses the sexiest part of her routine to film and posts it as a  _ teaser _ for her fans.

-

Rey FaceTimes Ben. Yes, she does that. After a few rings he picks up and she can see his grainy face on her screen. 

“Hey, Rey! What a wonderful surprise, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, samesies. Now smile for me!”

She smiles brightly and takes a screenshot, then hangs up just to post it on her social media to keep the fans happy.

Ben DMs her. “That’s just mean.”

“No love in this business.”

“Who hurt you?”

“You.”

He doesn’t answer. He didn’t hurt her though, he must know that. She just wants to fight and tease. She wants his attention. But she also wants to avoid any of her feelings towards him.

Later when she arrives home, but before she can drop onto her bed she hears frantic knocking on her front door. Rey opens it and her mouth drops. Ben is here. He doesn’t say anything, just steps forward and picks her up with his big hands cupping her ass cheeks to kiss her. Instantly her hands grab his hair and her eyes close. She feels safe and relieved. They deepen the kiss and let their tongues collide. She missed his warmth and taste. They break apart and Ben slowly places Rey back on the floor. 

“How did I hurt you?” He looks worried.

Rey bites her lip and her eyes dart to the floor. “You didn't, I was just in a mood.”

Ben raises his eyebrows. “So you’re telling me I dropped everything to rush here, but it turns out you were just in a  _ mood _ ?!”

Rey doesn’t know what to say, but tries anyway. She opens her mouth slowly and finally squeezes out. “I’m sorry. I –”

Ben chuckles, cups her face and catches her mouth with his lips. “How about we finish what we started the other night?” He mumbles against her lips.

Rey’s eyes are suddenly wide open and she steps away. She shakes her head rapidly. “No, then everything will be too complicated. I get it, you’re used to sleeping around a lot, but like I already said this wouldn’t be meaningless to me.”

“So you  _ do _ have feelings for me?” Ben takes a step closer.

“I– I’m not sure how I feel.” Rey stumbles a little.

“Cause it would be okay if you did.” He tucks a loose strand of her hair behind her ear  _ oh so delicately _ .

“Oh, would it now?” Her eyebrows shoot up. “Are _you_ saying that you have feelings for me?”

Ben leans down a little, their noses almost touching. “What if I did, would that change anything?”

Rey scoffs. “Did you mean would that get me in bed with you?! You’d say anything to get what you want!” Rey pushes him off in disgust.  _ Of course, he’s always been a dog. _

Ben raises his voice. “Rey, is that really how little you think of me?”

Rey tries to calm herself as she walks a little further palming her face. She turns around to face Ben again. “This is fake, okay! We have a few more weeks and then you can go ahead and be free and bang whoever you want!”

“C’mon, you can’t say that all of this has been fake.” He sounds in pain.  _ Does he actually have feelings for me? No, that's not possible. _

“Yes, I think because we haven’t faked a relationship before, we let it mess with our heads and forget the goal. We don’t have that much in common. We tease and disagree a lot. We have hectic schedules. It wouldn’t work, so why should we torture ourselves?!” Rey gestures with her hands as she desperately is trying to explain. To herself at least.

Ben’s shoulders shrink in defeat. “I guess you’re right. I’ll go then. Let me know if we need to do anything else for publicity.” He leaves. Rey can’t pretend that it didn’t hurt at least a little. She opens a new bottle of wine and lets her tears make pathways down her face.

Rey calls Poe and tells him everything. About their teasing behind the scenes, some incidents and that one night after the red carpet event. She’s in distress. Ben is not the man she expected him to be. She expected more of a cocky, confident and dominant guy. He was all those things at times, but not nearly as much. She didn’t expect him to become her friend, someone she could confide in and feel safe with. She is mad at herself for pushing him away. For handling these situations in such immature ways.

“Oh, boy.” Poe finally sighs when Rey finishes her rant. “Look, I never expected things to get so out of hand. I’ll tell you the truth. I thought you two would hit it off and actually start dating.”

She gasps. “You what now?”

“Yeah, I knew about your little crush on him and when I saw the opportunity to find you someone, I took it. Remember when you said that you could just do a public apology and so on. I had so many thoughts and options how to deal with the drama, but I wanted you to finally date someone. You’re always busy or closed off and as a friend I’m sad to see you like this. Drinking wine on those lonely nights. But then you two seemed to have a spark, so why not? I’m sorry I meddled in your dating life and now I’ve messed up even more.”

“Wow, Poe. How didn’t I see right through you?! This felt off right from the start. How did you manage to get Phasma on board??"

Poe sounds like he shrugs. "I showed her some examples of the public gaining more interest in celebrities that started dating."

"Ughh.” She closes her eyes and groans. “I’m so confused. I really don’t know what to do.”

“Maybe you could talk to him.” Poe asks hesitantly.

“We actually talk quite a lot. About all of this. I think it always leaves us even more confused and hurt.”

“Okay, just try to survive two more weeks and then we can pretend this never happened. How does that sound?” Poe says in defeat.

Rey pinches the bridge of her nose. “I don’t think I want to pretend it never happened, but… Ugh what a mess. I’ll focus on my album for now.” 


	16. A fever dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SKIP THIS CHAPTER IF YOU WANT TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE REAL ENDING. THIS IS A WEIRD ALTERNATE ONE.
> 
> Dedicated to my dear friend, thank you for the inspiration.
> 
> A few warnings for this chapter only:  
> \- murder  
> \- dead body  
> \- prison  
> \- evil twin  
> \- conspiring  
> \- pregnancy

Today is the day. Her album is released today. She hasn’t dared to talk to Ben yet. She doesn’t know what to say, but she can definitely relate to her lyrics more now. But Ben is her date to her album release party and they can’t show up looking distant. _Why hasn’t he reached out to me himself? Yes, he left because of the things I said, but he never seemed to back down from a challenge._

She dials him, but nothing. It doesn’t even ring. _Did he block my number? Or change his??_ Rey texts him, but the messages don’t go through. Slight panic is rising in her so she opens Instagram to DM him, but she can’t log in. _Great, has my account now been hacked?_

She calls Poe, who also doesn’t pick up. _Why is the signal jammed? Okay, just take a deep breath in and out. Everything is fine. It will be fine. Maybe this is a weird bad dream or a network issue._

She gets dressed for the party. Rey chooses a beautiful mirror sequin dress, which encapsulates her album the best. It’s _reflective_. Her hair is in a low messy bun and her make-up is quite natural, because she wants her dress to be the centerpiece and shine. 

Rey is driving and with every minute she gets closer to the destination, she gets more nervous. She thinks about everything that is waiting there for her. Her songs out in the world, expecting fans and news reporters, music critics and her _fake_ boyfriend Ben Solo. The latter is the real reason for her shaky nerves. 

She is five minutes away when she notices blue lights going off behind her signaling for her to pull over. _Great, today seems cursed or something._ She pulls over and sees not only one cop coming out of the car, but three and they seem to be on edge, holding hands on their guns.

“Miss, please leave the vehicle slowly with your hands above your head.” She can’t be hearing this right, but does so anyways. _This must be a prank._ As soon as she is out of her car, her hands up, the officers grab her and cuff her hands. One of the officers says to his transmitter. “We got her.”

She is in shock. “What’s going on? I wasn’t driving over the speed limit!” Rey is starting to shake now as she is trying to hold back tears. 

“You’re under arrest for murder.” Says one of the officers as they tightly yank her towards the cop car.

“Murder?! Who was murdered?? I didn’t murder anyone!” She cries out.

“Oh, stop pretending. We have rock solid proof of your actions and you’re going away for a long time.” The man says sternly.

Rey doesn’t know if she should laugh or cry, because what she is hearing is ridiculous. “What? Seriously is this some sort of a sick joke? A prank? Today is my album release day!”

Another man who is standing behind her says. “They did say she would be delusional after escaping from the asylum.” 

“Wait, what now?! What the fuck is going on?!” She begins to fight back, but they easily push her in the backseat and drive off.

  
  


-

She is extremely tired and emotionless. She was just in the interrogation room for three hours. They asked her ridiculous questions about her murdering someone named Maz, who apparently was her foster parent. They told her she had mental issues as she was thrown around the foster system and lived through many traumas, but she apparently snapped when she saw her identical twin out there living her best life. Yes, _her identical twin_. Apparently there is someone named May who looks just like her. But how did Rey get mixed with May? Is Rey not Rey anymore or has she been delusional this whole time?? She is not sure anymore. She is just numb now.

They show her the evidence and a video. It is truly horrific to see yourself or someone who looks just like you commit such a horrible act. Her lawyer couldn’t do much to help her and she is sentenced to 15 years in prison. She couldn’t believe it. _This must be a sick joke, a bad nightmare. I should be at my album release party right now. They must be worried sick about me._

They let her have one phone call and she calls Poe right away. “Hey, Poe! It’s me, Rey. I need your help. I don’t know what’s going on!” She weeps.

“Oh, haha! Very funny! Prank calling is so out of style, but also you really think I’d be that stupid? Rey is standing right here and smooching Solo as we speak, definitely not on her phone right now. Never call me again!” He hangs up.

Rey has even more questions now. _What do you mean I’m there? Kissing Ben? What is this? Alternate universe?_

She doesn’t have a chance to do anything else before she finds herself alone in a jail cell. 

-

She pleads and cries to get in contact with Poe or Ben, but no one budges. She is so lost and confused. However when they throw her a newspaper, she does find some clarity. She sees a whole page about her long-awaited album release. There’s a little backstory and interview with her, but she definitely didn’t say those things. She’d never say her songs are about her secret relationships with men and women that she has kept out of the public's eye. Also she doesn’t have only a few favourite songs on the album, all of the songs are little fragments of Rey and very close to her heart. On the next page there are pictures of the party and there she is. In a black short dress, smiling brightly with Ben on her arm. There’s also another photo of them kissing passionately. _I can’t believe that happened_ . _Who is May? Was I really set up??_ She growls and rips the newspaper in half.

-

She was fragile, but she was used to being taken advantage of. Any man that wanted her got her. They would fuck her in any hole and she would take it. She was made for that after all. No one was there to protect her or take care of her, she didn’t know any better. As she grew up, she only had one constant in her life. A name they gave her – _May_ – because her birthday was in May apparently. She would mostly get by living on the streets and the occasional motel rooms where she would pleasure men. On one day a sweet older woman named Maz offered her a room in her house. Her daughter had just moved out and she needed help around her house, so she offered May a roof over her head, clean clothes and warm food on the table. May finally felt safe and happy, but this wasn’t the life she was used to, so she occasionally still went out and offered her services. It didn’t go unnoticed by Maz when she arrived home early morning in the same clothes, smeared make-up, some hickeys and bruises on her neck. Maz would lecture her and scold her, she hated it. She hated Maz for restricting her. It wasn’t her business after all. When May saw a prominent new singer in the scene, Rey, who looked and sounded just like her, she felt jealous and mad. May deserved the adoring fans and the fancy lifestyle, she deserved an out of this horrible belittling life, not Rey, whoever she was.

May came up with a plan or more like she became obsessed with Rey and she started pretending to be her. Her first few attempts failed terribly. She was accused of cosplaying and tricking people, so she knew that the only way she would get the life she deserved was to get rid of Rey.

-

Ben didn’t understand it, but his heart was broken. He went to Rey’s place to fix their relationship, maybe take it to the next level. He really cares for her and doesn’t want to lose her. So when she said it was fake and listed reasons why they wouldn’t work, it really stabbed him in the chest. He decides to give her time though, a little distance to clear their heads. He has work anyways so he doesn’t get the chance to dwell on it for too long.

After a few days she texts him. “Hey, babe. I miss you. Can we talk?”

Something about how she calls him babe makes his heart flutter. “Yeah, we should.”

They meet up at her favourite smoothie place. She doesn’t order her usual though, she orders Berry Banger. He takes his Blueberry Blaster for nostalgia. They make small talk, but once they step outside, she instantly grabs his hand and pulls him down for a kiss.

She breaks the kiss. “I’m so sorry I said those things. It was stupid of me. I was just so scared to admit that I actually have feelings for you.” He leans against her forehead.

“I’m glad to hear it, because I was stupid and scared too. As you know about my past relationships, I don’t let people in, but you managed to slip in there and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He smiles and cups her face as he studies her face and eyes to see if she’s lying. He seals his thoughts with a kiss and they make their way to Ben’s place, where he finally can take her to his bed and really show her how he feels about her.

-

It is too easy for May to play Rey, because when she is standing next to Ben Solo no one questions it. Luckily, Rey is also ignorant and stubborn enough to stay away from Ben. Probably dwelling on her feelings for him without actually acting on them. Well too bad anyway, May jammed her signal and took over her social media accounts. It was all really too easy. Rey should take her cyber security more seriously. But now onto her actual plan, because she can’t have Rey showing up and seeing Ben. Ben is all hers now. She gives him everything he could ever want. Mostly her body. They don’t talk much when they’re at home. May also practically lives with Ben, well because she doesn’t have a home, but also she’s got him wrapped around her finger. She’s finally getting everything she ever wanted. She just needs to take care of the last thing. May hated Maz for her manipulative ways to make her bend to Maz’s will. She would even physically abuse May if she’d stray from her words. So Maz was the perfect victim.

She knew Maz’s daily routine by heart and so May gracefully stole Rey’s car when she was at rehearsal all day. May drove to Maz’s local grocery store she would religiously visit at 1 PM, because then it wasn’t so crowded. May waited for Maz to leave the store and start walking across the parking lot. Then May would start the car, gain speed and run her over. Maz flew over the car and laid flat on the ground. May put the car in reverse and backed over her. She then left the car in the place she knew the security cameras could see her the best and checked on Maz. Her guts were leaking out as her body was caved in the places where the tires ran her over. May drove away, cleaned the car and put it back to where Rey had parked it. Before the incident though, May registered the car in her name, which was also easier than expected, the people at DMV couldn’t care less. That’s why the cops pulled Rey over and that’s why they thought she was May.

-

Rey tries her best to stay calm and acclimate to the situation. She isn’t getting out of here anytime soon. She wants to be on her best behaviour in hopes of an earlier release. Also she is slowly turning mad, but only on the inside as she tries to cooperate with her lawyer and find proof of her actually being Rey, not May. But May has been good with getting away with it. Rey isn’t going to back down though. She has a plan of her own.

She was moved to a shared cell. There were three more women beside her. They were mostly nice, but one, Padme. She was older than the rest of them, but super annoying and driving everyone crazy with her know-it-all stories and lectures and snappy comments. Rey would be lying if she said she didn’t think about strangling her. However that would take too long, Rey also doesn’t have that much strength…

Her other cell mate Amilyn would sometimes get in fights with Padme. They’d yell and then start wrestling. It’s kind of hilarious to watch. But that’s perfect for Rey. When she is on kitchen cleaning duty, she finds a knife that was left unattended and hides it, but hands it over to the security guard, saying this might be dangerous in the wrong hands. She gets praised for doing what’s right. Rey doesn’t however hand over a small sharp metal pipe she pulled from the oven.

One night, in the dark. She quietly rolls out of her lower bunk bed and grabs a pillow. Padme is sleeping in the bed just across from her and so Rey holds her pillow in her one hand and the pipe in the other. She takes a deep breath and hopes that all of this goes in her favor. She plunges down both at the same time, the pillow covering Padme’s face to swallow her screams and the pipe straight to her heart.

Rey slept like a baby. She shouldn’t have. She knows it’s wrong, but it’s what she needed to do. She is being torn awake by a sharp scream of her cell mate who is looking at Padme’s blood covered body, a pillow laying over her face. The only one in the cell missing a pillow is Amilyn. Rey noticed how she often pushes either her blanket or pillow out of her bed as she restlessly sleeps. So it was easy enough to snag her pillow. Amilyn was also recently on gym cleaning duty and the janitor’s closet right next to it often has many old appliances that have had pipes stolen. Also with Amilyn’s and Padme’s fights, it was easy to paint her as the criminal. Ironically enough Amilyn was in prison for stabbing a guy with a pipe. That meant Rey would be quickly moved to a single cell.

Rey has to act fast. While she is transferred, she tears herself away from the guard and turns to run away. She turns a corner and then another one until she meets a wall and plops down on the ground. Rey hits her head and loses consciousness. When she wakes up she isn’t sure where she is and who she is. At least _they_ have to think that. The doctors check her head and the bump on her head. They ask her a bunch of questions, but she seems dazed and out of it, mostly answering that she doesn’t know and having panic attacks. Rey even surprises herself by how well she is playing as if she has amnesia and a concussion. She knew beforehand that the doctors there weren’t qualified enough and that they didn’t have a place to keep her, so they’d have to transfer her elsewhere. Surprisingly enough she gets on home parole as she is deemed harmless. She doesn’t get a tracker as she acts terrified of the device. An officer is appointed to check on her a few times a day. _Whew, that was easy enough._

  
  


-

The first thing Rey does after she gets home and checks in with the officer is visit Ben. He needs to know what’s going on. She just hopes that May isn’t there, because then she won’t be able to hold back. She runs to his front door and knocks, hoping that he is home right now. She doesn’t have to wait long though, but she doesn’t expect to see someone standing at the doorway, looking just like her standing with eyes wide open and mouth slightly parted in shock. Rey squints her eyes and feels heat pooling in her chest, she actually might combust. 

“You must be May.” Rey simply says in a threatening tone, clenching her fists, ready to attack.

“Rey... How are you here?” May almost whispers, taking a step back.

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know.” Rey steps through the door. “Did you really think you could get away with this?” 

May is shaking her head in disbelief. “This can’t be happening.” She mutters to herself.

“Ben! Are you home?!” Rey suddenly shouts, still eyeing May.

May is slowly backing away towards the stairs. “What’s gonna happen now?”

“Nothing good for you.” Rey looks feral as she moves after her.

“Hey, sweetie. I’m still here.” They both look up the stairs and see Ben walking into sight. “What the… Rey? I didn't know you have a twin.” He stops and keeps switching between May and Rey.

“Ben! She is not who she claims to be! May set me up and wanted to take over my life!” Rey wants to run up to Ben, but May is in the way.

“May? Who is May? Who are you? Why are there two of you?” Ben is still in shock and frozen.

May suddenly whips around and runs halfway up the stairs. “Babe, I don’t know, this woman knocked on the door and claimed to be Rey. I think she might be insane. Can you call the cops?”

Ben nods and pulls his phone out of the pocket, but stops.

“No, she’s lying! She is the insane one, who escaped from the asylum, she has been pretending to be me!” Rey chokes up. She doesn’t know how to better explain the situation or prove her identity. Her heart is racing and she feels like drowning. “If I wasn’t Rey, how would I know that after our first date we came here and sat in the lounge area and had a little teasing session. You said I wouldn’t be able to handle it and called me the devil’s spawn. Or at your sketch shoot where I distracted you and set us rules and after our Disneyland date we were naked in the pool. All of those were private moments, so if I wasn’t Rey, how would I know??” Rey’s eyes are filled with tears as she is desperately trying to replay all of their memories together.

Something in Ben clicks when he sees the Rey who woke up next to him this morning move up the stairs towards him. She holds herself differently than the Rey he was originally used to. He now notices a few different birthmarks on her face and neck. Ben stumbles a step back cautiously.

“Benny, you know me. I’m Rey. I love you and you love me.” May says gently and carefully takes a few more steps.

“You love me? But we never even…” Rey asks and then bites her lip. _If only this May person would get out and let me jump Ben already._

Rey narrows her eyes and moves quickly up the stairs. She grabs May’s shoulder to turn her around and then she punches her straight in the face. “You don’t get to take my life! The life I worked for! You also don’t get my man!” Rey yells at her. May winces and palms her face in pain, but then growls and tries to jump Rey. They wrestle for a few seconds, pulling each other’s hair and any limb that gets in the way. Ben then intersects as he pulls and pushes them apart with all his strength. She flies down the stairs and hits her head at the end. The very last thing before her eyes is Ben and May hugging each other and then there is just pitch black.

-

It’s all over the news. That Rey’s crazy unknown twin sister came back and tried to attack her, but in self-defense Ben pushed back and she fell down the stairs. There was no funeral. Her body was just cremated and the ashes buried. May successfully got to take over Rey’s life. She didn’t think much about Rey, because she now was Rey. She shared bits and pieces about her true identity to Ben, who didn’t care much for her past. He loved her now and forever until death did them apart. May retired Rey from her singing career, because well for one she couldn’t sing. That’s how Rey’s debut album was also her last album. May stayed at home and became a housewife. After a year Ben proposed to her and another year later they were wed. It wasn’t long before the Solo family got additions as they welcomed twins, a boy and a girl to the world. Ben’s parents loved her and she loved them. May finally got the home and love she had longed for her whole life. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol this is what I get when I ask my friends for ideas
> 
> DON'T WORRY, THE ACTUAL ENDING IS THE NEXT ONE


	17. No more fake dating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY IF I TRAUMATIZED YOU WITH THE LAST CHAPTER!!
> 
> wanted to do something different and well when I asked my friends for inspiration, that was what I got. it was fun to write though.
> 
> here is however the ACTUAL ending or you can decide, which one you like better ;)

Today is the day. Her album is released today. She hasn’t dared to talk to Ben yet. She doesn’t know what to say, but she can definitely relate to her lyrics more now. But Ben is her date to her album release party and they can’t show up looking distant. _Why hasn’t he reached out to me himself? Yes, he left because of the things I said, but he never seemed to back down from a challenge._

She dials him and he picks up on the third ring. “Hey, Ben. I’m so glad you answered.”

“Yeah, well I actually have some bad news for you.” She hears him say without any expression.

“Oh, you do?” She asks hesitantly.

“I won’t be able to make it today. I’m sorry. A reshoot came up suddenly and we have to finish it today, because of the deadline.” Ben sounds bored.

She can’t lie to herself, she is _really_ disappointed. “I understand. It’s fine.”

“I’m really sorry. I know we are about to break up and we might not see each other any time soon, so it was a pleasure to work with you.”

Rey chuckles a bit as she tries to keep herself together at his statement. “You say it like it’s a goodbye, but were friends, remember? You can always talk to me if you want, I’m here for you, I hope you know that.”

Ben sighs. “Hasn’t really felt like it lately, but yes, I’ll let you know then. I’m here for you too.” That stings her. 

“Great, I hope your shoot goes well.”

“Congrats on your album release.”

-

She gets dressed for the party. Rey chooses a beautiful mirror sequin dress, which encapsulates her album the best. It’s _reflective_. Her hair is in a low messy bun and her make-up is quite natural, because she wants her dress to be the centerpiece and shine. 

Rey is driving and with every minute she gets closer to the destination, she gets more nervous. She thinks about everything that is waiting there for her: her songs out in the world, expecting fans and news reporters, music critics and facing it all _alone_. The latter is the real reason for her shaky nerves. She wishes Ben would be there and have his hand around her waist as if he could protect her from anything and everything.

She makes it to the party and for a moment she forgets all about the hole in her heart. Her team and Poe with some other guests stand there and clap as she enters the room. It is beautifully and uniquely decorated with disco balls and holographic strings that hang from the ceiling. She spots a big cake with her album cover on a table and a collection of white wines next to it. _They know me so well… I pay for them to know me. I didn’t have to pay Ben…_

“Hey, my sunshine!” Poe disrupts her thoughts as he pulls her in for a hug. “We finally made it! I’m glad that you couldn’t find anything else to tweak on the album or otherwise it would never see the light of day.” He chuckles and Rey can’t help but smile. “Yes, I can’t believe it’s finally out!” She begins dancing with her guests as her new songs are playing in the background. _This is what happiness feels like. Or at least should…_

She is pulled aside for a little interview.

“Could you tell us what are some of your favourite songs on this album?”

Rey smiles brightly. “I feel like it’s a cheesy answer, but all of them are my favourite. I’d say they’re all little fragments of me and very close to my heart.”

“Who or what is the inspiration behind these songs?”

Rey stops to think for a second. While Ben has been lately occupying her thoughts, these songs were written at a different time when she didn’t know much about love or relationships, which most of her songs are about. She always had to rely on her team. “I’d say that all of them are inspired by life in general, people go through many different experiences, so this album really is a compilation of my and my team’s stories.”

Rey can’t leave her party soon enough. As much as she tried to enjoy the mingling and small talk, listening and commenting on the songs that she has heard about a thousand times, she was out of it. It’s like a massive weight has been removed from her shoulders. A three year journey has reached its culmination and now there is the end. For this journey at least. She knows she’ll start another one soon enough. But for now, Rey is drained and sitting on her bed, still wearing the uncomfortable sequin dress.

Yet, she doesn’t want to sleep. She wants to see Ben. She _needs_ to see Ben. 

Rey bites her lip and takes a deep breath in. _I can do this. I need to stop being such a pussy and go after what I want. I deserve it._ “Hey, if you get the chance to answer then I’d like to know where you are doing the reshoots and for how long.” She types and hits send. She lays down on her bed and stares at the ceiling. _I am ready, I am ready to put myself out there._

A few minutes later her phone already buzzes.

“Miss me?”

“Maybe…” She initially writes, but deletes. “Yes, I do.” Is what she sends him instead.

“I’m in the city actually, the same studio where I filmed the sketch. You could visit now if you want ;)”

Rey immediately stands up and rushes to change her clothes. She settles for a simple short flowy dress _for easy access_ … And a puffy sporty jacket on top as it was a bit chilly. She steps outside when Poe calls her.

Rey closes her eyes for a second and groans. “What?!”

“Today is supposed to be a happy day! What’s up your ass?!” Poe exclaims.

Rey tries to remain patient. “What do you want??”

“Well… Your boyfriend might have a cheating scandal on his hands.”

She gasps. “Poe, I’m gonna need more details right about now!”

Poe is silent for a second before continuing. “Okay, it isn’t confirmed, but an article was just posted about how he and Bazine were seen a few nights ago very close.”

_This bitch didn’t…_ “He and Bazine worked together on a movie, maybe it’s from the set or something.”

She can hear him shake his head. “No, it’s from a well-known lounge with lots of eyes around, but it’s still very new and we can stop it before it gets way out of hand. I have a couple plans in mind.”

Rey chuckles like she is about to beat someone up. “Poe, no offense, but your plans got us into this current mess, so I’m gonna go now and talk directly to Ben about this, okay? Bye!”

“Wait, wha-“

She turns off her phone and drives to the studio. Rey is furious, she is actually fuming. _But again this was fake, I shouldn’t be so jealous and mad about this. But I am who I am._

Hux is already waiting for her in the parking lot to lead her into the studio. He can read Rey’s face as she stomps towards him and without a word takes her to Ben. Ben cluelessly sits there on his director’s chair, in costume, reading the script. For a moment Rey takes that sight in. _Ben Solo, the egoistic and arrogant womanizer, who gets what he wants. All I see is a man who is gentle, understanding, passionate and tall, but still infuriating as he thinks he can just do whatever and whoever._ _Take that man away from me before I might claim him._ Ben doesn’t even notice when Hux first calls his name.

Ben is snapped out and instantly stands up when he sees Rey. His face lights up as if the world was suddenly brighter and filled with all the colours when she walked in. Rey isn’t as amused, but softens a little bit.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Ben finally says and carefully takes a step towards her, trying to get a read on her face and thoughts.

“We need to talk.” She says sternly. Hux takes that as his cue to leave and is gone in a second.

“Oh, wow. I didn’t expect that after your text.” Ben chuckles a bit.

“I learned some new information after that text, so may we go somewhere private for a little chat?” Rey forces herself to stay calm and collected, but it’s hard to not take that as a command and a threat.

“Sure.” Ben scratches the back of his head as he takes her to his dressing room. The same dressing room they were in the last time.

As soon as he closes the door Rey starts shouting in a low voice with fury and disappointment. “How could you do this? We were doing so good and you just jeopardized the whole mission. We are so close to ending this.” She wants to punch him and kick him. She wants to cry. It’s stupid, but she can’t help it. _He makes me weak, he is my weak spot._

Ben raises his hands trying to calm her. “Woah. What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything. I think?” 

Rey pulls out her phone and shoves it in his face with the pictures of him and Bazine. Bazine is resting her hand on his shoulder, then she is laughing and her hand on his chest.

“She is just very touchy, she hugs everyone like all the time. Nothing is going on between us. Yes, we used to date, but that’s in the past. I promise you Rey, I’m loyal to us, to _you_.” He takes a few steps closer to her.

Rey doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “So you mean to tell me that you really haven’t slept with anyone in the past three months??”

“Oh, wow. Three months. That’s like the longest relationship I’ve had and without sex!” He laughs a little in realization and surprise. “Every time my dick twitches I think of you and that’s enough.” He stares deep into her eyes as he apologetically smiles.

Rey rolls her eyes and grunts, “Oh, please!”

Ben sighs. “Rey, baby, why are we still fighting this?! I know you want me and I want you, so just let me take you to bed and show you how I really feel about you.”

Rey stares at him in awe. “Did you just say it?”

“Say what?” Ben furrows his brows.

“Say that you want me. Admit that you’re desperate for me and can’t stand that I am not giving myself up easily?” Rey is smirking now as she remembers their lounge area dry humping and teasing.

Ben just doesn’t care anymore. “I think I’ve already said it, but sure yeah I’m desperate for you.” He chuckles, his hands on his hips, a man who is willing to bow down before this woman. “I want to pull up that dress and rip off your panties and run my fingers along your folds, so I could feel your wet cunt dripping for me, because I know it is.”

Rey’s eyebrows shoot up at that. “Hmm… You always have a way with words.” She tries to hold back her grin. “Okay, I get your point. I think you’ve earned it now. I can call it a truce.”

“You have been still holding onto that truce?” Ben laughs as he runs his hand through his hair.

Rey shrugs. “Yes, I keep my promises.”

“Oh, great, cause I’m wondering about another promise that involves me not breaking any rules and us making it until your album release…” He plays innocent as he purses his lips and scratches his chin. “But truce?” Ben holds out his hand to her.

Rey reaches out her hand to meet his and this time she shakes it, but he doesn’t let go. He pulls her into him and presses his lips on hers. She missed this. _Him_. Their tongues start dancing immediately as his one hand is holding her chin and the other presses her back into him. She grabs his hair, his long enough luscious hair. 

Ben breaks the kiss. “So, can I keep you now?”

Rey smiles, but it quickly fades. “You sure you want to? There are reasons why I’ve been single all this time.”

He chuckles and leans his forehead against hers. “And there are reasons why my relationships never last, but I have a feeling this will be different, this will be better.”

“You’re right.” She palms his cheek and bites her lip as she searches his eyes. “So, are you going to take me home, throw me on your bed and leave me all bare and needy?”

“Fuck, Rey. I have to finish this shoot first. You can’t say things like that to me at work.” He gestures to his crotch.

“I think it’s only fair. Because in fact I am dripping for you right now.” Rey leans closer to his ear and whispers. “And I’m not wearing anything underneath.”

Ben groans and growls or who knows what animalistic low voice that escapes him is, but kisses her once more before he leaves to finish the rest of the filming.

Ironically enough, the scene they are shooting involves Bazine. Rey emerges and hides in the sidelines, so she is out of sight for Ben. _Not gonna distract him now. Don’t need to get Bazine thinking he is hard for her._ Though in the scene Ben kisses Bazine, Rey isn’t bothered. She knows he is thinking about her right now and what they’re going to be doing later. He is hers and she is his _and that’s real happiness._

When Ben finishes Rey quickly catches up with him. “Wow, you deserve an award after this performance.”

“Who said I was acting?” He shoots her a grin.

“Oh, shut up.” She lightly punches him.

Ben wraps his hand around her shoulders. “Ready to go to my place? Last chance to back out.” Rey looks at him in question. “Because once we’re inside, I’m not letting you go.” He places a kiss on her forehead.

“Then make me stay.” She smiles at him.

-

Ben stays true to his promise though. Once they’re at his place, he picks Rey up as she squeaks and throws her over his shoulder. When the skirt of her dress flies up and exposes her bare bottom, he can’t help but growl. Ben lightly slaps her ass cheek and carries her up to his bedroom. He is not as rough with her as she thought. Ben quite gently puts her down on the bed and climbs on top to shower her with kisses. Rey squirms because she wants more and reaches to tear off his shirt and pants. Ben reads her mind and in seconds is fully naked. He pulls her dress over her head with one swift move.

“No visitors this time?” Rey bites her lip and holds back a laugh.

“Don’t remind me of that right now.” He says with a warning and kisses her mouth shut.

Their hands begin to explore their bodies like the previous night. She is finally in his arms, his weight on top of her, but not for long when he starts moving his kisses down her neck to her breasts and then lower until she is in bliss and whimpering. “Oh stars, so good, so good, oh, Ben!”

She is still trembling in the afterglow, but finds some strength to pull herself up and straddle Ben. She just needs to taste him again and devours his mouth. His hands grip her waist tightly as she moves herself in place. All she has to do now is sit down and his full length fills her all the way. Rey gasps and stills to catch her breath.

“You good?” Ben sounds smug.

“Yup, just a moment to adjust.” Rey closes her eyes and slowly starts rocking her hips. She can’t contain herself as she is so full of him and moans. They move in sync and she can feel Ben underneath her beginning to unravel. His hands are gripping her harder and she’s pretty sure there might be some bruising. _But I don’t mind being marked by him._ Pleasure shortly follows and she feels him fill her even more when he comes. _No one else will ever be enough for me._ Next time Ben takes charge and finds new positions so he is pushing even deeper inside her. They both fall over the edge a couple of times that evening. After a quick shower Rey falls into deep slumber in Ben’s arms. The first night in a long time that wasn’t accompanied with a glass of wine. She’s drunk enough on Ben.

-

Ben feels bad about missing Rey’s album release party, so he throws her one. The next morning he makes her pancakes and orders her favourite smoothie. He even bought her album titled _For You._

“Who is the lucky guy to whom you dedicated this album.” He smirks.

She jabs him. “Please, not everything has to be about a man. It’s for my fans. For supporting me through all these years.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.” He comes up from her behind and squeezes her tightly as he places a kiss on her temple. “So, let’s hear it.”

She turns the volume up. “Oh, the first one is my newest.”

_I know that there is something more_

_And shouldn’t the unknown be explored_

_Oh, I hate the thoughts that I have of you_

_I hate that I think of you_

_I don’t wanna think of you_

Ben looks at Rey, eyes wide.

_Why am I this way_

_So hard to admit_

_That I could be yours and you could be mine_

“Is this inspired by someone I might know?” Ben raises his brow.

_Cause baby I could be yours_

_Baby I could be yours_

“Baby, I am yours.” Rey sings and smiles as she looks up at Ben and rises to her toes to kiss him once more.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also writing an epilogue, cause i want more of them


	18. Happily ever after?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing this fic more than expected. 
> 
> This epilogue is here to bring some more fluff and angst for Rey and Ben.
> 
> A few warnings for this chapter:  
> – small injury and blood  
> – past issues with parents  
> – throwing up  
> – unexpected pregnancy  
> – daddy kink

Media is flooded with images of Ben and Rey on their various outings. Their glamorous dinner in the most exclusive restaurant in the city, a little picnic on a hiking trail, a shopping spree for home stuff (are they moving in already?), visiting the gym and the grocery store together – it seems like they’re doing everything together. Rey is practically living at Ben’s place. 

Poe’s and Phasma’s plan is working as Rey’s album sales and streams are through the roof, numbers are a lot higher than they could have ever anticipated. The last Galaxy Battles installment also saw a drastic increase in popularity when his and Rey’s then fake relationship was announced. And now they are  _ actually _ together and in love though they haven’t confessed these feelings to each other yet. But just as they have entered the honeymoon phase, Rey is set to go on her album tour that takes her all across the country for three months.

“Three months is not that long. We can chat every day and I’ll come visit you whenever I can.” Ben tucks a loose strand behind her ear and strokes her cheekbone.

Rey pouts and whines, leaning into his touch. “I know, it’s just hard not to wake up next to you every morning.”

Ben chuckles as he pulls her into an embrace. “Well it is literally  _ hard _ for me when you sleep draped over me.”

Rey snuggles into him more. “You’re so warm and better than any mattress.”

“Thanks, I guess, glad to be of service.” They kiss longingly and then Rey disappears through the airport gates.

They chat every day via phone calls, texts and FaceTimes. Ben tries to visit like he promised her at a couple destinations, but his unpredictable schedule keeps postponing his plans, though he makes sure to be there for her birthday. The most important day for him now. He doesn’t know what to give her as a present. She says she doesn’t need anything, she has everything she could ever want, but she deserves the world is all that Ben can think.

“Maybe I should buy her a car, a house?” He thinks to himself, but she is pretty much living at his place already and owns a nice Porsche. “She has never been very materialistic, she didn’t have much growing up.” He frowns when he remembers her childhood. How had she been abandoned? “A puppy? No, we don’t have time for a puppy. I could offer her a home, a family and a promise to never leave her, but it’s too early to propose.” He is still pacing in his room with his hand scratching his chin as he looks down on the ground.

He flies out to see Rey perform. He gets a backstage pass and directions to her dressing room. Ben abruptly stops when he sees a door with a tag _Rey_ on it. He pulls his collar and tries to center himself, feeling a slight flutter in his stomach. He hasn’t been in the same room as her since two months ago when she left. Ben finally raises his hand to knock on the door. Three seconds later he is greeted with Rey’s beaming smile and that is the last thing he sees before she slants her mouth on his. He immediately closes his arms around her and they walk backwards into her dressing room. He can’t get enough of her taste on his lips, her scent that fills his lungs and her body crushed into his. 

“Rey, five minutes!” Someone shouts from the corridor and Rey breaks their kiss.

“It’s so good to actually touch you again.” Rey smiles and cups his cheeks as her thumbs run over his cheeks.

Ben is looking at her in awe. He couldn’t believe how much he physically missed her. He wants to shower her with kisses and make her see stars with multiple orgasms, but a little sting in his heart reminds him that he is leaving tonight after her concert and he won’t see her again for another month. Yes, there are more important issues in the world, yet right now Ben finds far ahead scheduled projects that can’t be cancelled for personal reasons like  _ I want to spend time with my girlfriend,  _ the biggest crime of all. 

“Happy birthday, my dear.” Is all he can say. “And as your present –“

“Ben, no. Return it. I don’t need anything else, I’ve got you.” Rey interrupts him.

“You do have me, but you didn’t let me finish and I think a few slaps to your  _ arse _ are in order.” Ben lets out a small laugh and Rey gasps a little. “I know it isn’t much, but would you do me the honour and move in with me?” He gets slightly nervous.

Rey answers him with a couple nods as she closes the gap between them and pretty much jumps him with a kiss, forcing him to take a step back.

“Rey, two minutes! You’re cutting it close here.”

This time Ben pulls away and sees tears rolling down her cheeks. He quickly uses his thumb to dry them. “Yes, I’d love to move in with you! The best birthday present ever!” She smiles, but reluctantly tears herself away from Ben. “I hope you’ll enjoy the show and I guess I’ll see you at home then!” She waves to him and steps outside where a make-up artist is already adding more powder to her face.

Ben makes his way to the VIP area with the best view. He has never actually seen Rey perform live. At the late night show where they met, he just didn’t care enough at the time to stay any longer. If he could go back in time, he’d definitely stay a few more minutes. Now however he can watch her for an hour and a half and then hopefully for the rest of his life.

-

He did buy a new house though. When Ben made it home, he felt that this house wasn’t enough. It was just like him, just like his life before Rey – dark, empty, silent and too much for him alone. He knows she loves the big windows and the view. It isn’t difficult for him to find one that seems to be something for them both – a colour scheme that finds a balance between light and dark, ceiling to floor windows that show the view, which now settled mostly on the sea and forests. It is just secluded enough that they can have their peace and privacy, but close enough to the city, so they can drive to work and their kids to school without a hassle. Ben never thought he’d start a family, but now it seems like a possibility.

-

When Rey returns, she doesn’t look the same. Her eyes carry a certain sadness that wasn’t there a month before. It worries Ben. “What if she changed her mind about us?” 

She thinks he won’t notice her fake smiles and her puffy eyes, but he does. “Hey, sweetheart. How was the tour?” He asks when he hugs her at the airport.

“It was great. Very tiring, but I loved interacting with fans. I’m so happy to be home though, I hope I can do nothing for a while.” She mumbles into his chest.

“That can be arranged.” Ben kisses her temple as he pushes her cart of luggage with his one hand, while the other is draped over her waist. “I have a surprise for you at home.”

“Oh?” Rey raises her brows. _ A home with Ben. Our home. I won’t be alone anymore. _

“You want to go to your place first or to ours?” She loves the way he says  _ ours _ . But then she remembers. The reason why she hasn’t slept well these past nights, why she has been drinking each night before bed again and why she can’t fathom the idea of someone wanting to live with her and call a home  _ theirs _ .

Rey avoids his gaze and chews on her lip. “I think I should go to my place first and rest before making the big move, you know.”

Ben nods and takes her home.

She should start packing, be excited and jump on Ben, but all she wishes right now is for him to leave her alone, give her some space to dwell on her mixed feelings.

“Rey, don’t do this.” Ben shakes his head when Rey tells him to go home and that she needs to think. “Sweetie, I’m not going anywhere. If something is bothering you, please tell me. I love you.” The last three words leave his mouth before he could hold back and think whether this is the right time. But when is ever the right time?

Rey’s eyes sparkle for a fleeting moment and she turns away from Ben. “No, you don’t. You don’t know what love is. Your head’s been messed with.”

Ben doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her answer to his confession. “Yes,  _ you _ messed with it, because I can’t stop thinking about you and caring for you and it pains me right now to see you like this.” 

He wants to reach out to her, but she is already walking to the kitchen and opening her fridge to pull out a bottle of wine. “Not this again.” Ben mutters under his breath.

Rey takes a big swig of her wine and puts it on the table a little too forcefully so it breaks and a shard of glass is stuck in her hand. Rey winces, but stares at the glass piece in her hand and blood that slowly is seeping around it. The wine is dripping on the floor and making her socks wet. She looks at Ben who is rushing to find paper towels and bandages. 

“You can’t love me, because I’m a mess. I mean look at me.” She laughs through tears.

Ben just sighs and gently takes her hand to inspect it and carefully pulls out the shard to clean the cut and cover it with a bandage. Luckily, the cut wasn’t deep. He leads Rey away from the mess and to a chair so she can sit down. He doesn’t say a word as he cleans up the rest of the broken glass and mops up the wine. 

He speaks after a few minutes. “Rey, this is why I cannot leave you alone, you might get yourself killed.” He walks up to her and falls to his knees in front of her. “I will love you no matter what and nothing's gonna change that. If you don’t feel the same way, it’s fine, you don’t have to torture yourself. I just want the best for you.” He carefully takes her hands in his.

“I met my parents, my real parents, the ones who abandoned me, left me alone on the street when I was five.” Rey blurts out and looks on the ground. “I know it was  _ really _ them because a few years ago I did a DNA test and they were in the system since they’ve committed a few crimes.”

Rey takes a deep breath and pours her eyes into Ben’s who is listening to her attentively. “They came to the meet and greet and the first thing they said was hey, we’re your parents, sorry for tossing you on the street, but you’re rich and famous now, so could you give us money?” 

A few prickly tears run down her cheeks and Ben wraps his arms around her. He wants to cover her entirely to protect her from this cruel and unfair world, which has caused her so much pain.

“It’s just hard to believe that someone would love me when my own parents don’t.” She croaks out between the sobs.

All Ben does that night is hold her close to him until she falls asleep in his arms. He won’t let her go.

-

“Oh my gosh! This house is incredible, Ben!” Rey can’t take her eyes off of the new place Ben purchased for them and close her mouth.  _ He bought a house for us! For us! _

“I’m so glad you like it. Come on, let’s go inside now, you’ve been gawking at the front door for ten minutes.” He takes her hand to lead her. Rey complies with no hesitation and her eyes go even wider when she sees what’s inside.

She shakes her head in disbelief. “This is too much.”

Ben wraps his arms around her from behind. “No, Rey, it’s nearly not enough.”

Rey raises her hand to squeeze Ben’s that is resting on her stomach and says in a serious tone. “Okay, if I stop then will you also please stop. You’re making me uncomfortable with your excessive affection. Where is the man I fell for?”

He rests his chin on her shoulder. “What would you like me to say then? If you won’t accept that you deserve all of this and more, I will put you over my knees and spank you?”

Rey laughs and cranes her neck when Ben starts placing small kisses there. “Maybe I would prefer that, Mr. Solo. Would you care to show me to the master bedroom?”

“I thought you’d be interested in the pool and the hot tub we have.” He murmurs against her skin.

Rey’s eyebrows shoot up. “A hot tub you say?”

“Well I’d call it just a tub if you’re not in it.” He grins smugly.

“Lead the way.”

-

Ben and Rey got an invitation to a basketball game and courtside seats. They weren’t huge fans of sports, but this opportunity was too good to pass on. Yet when they leave home for the game, Rey feels uneasy. She has been feeling for a week or so now. Her stomach has been churning, she wants to eat more and she already eats _a lot_. _I feel so dizzy…_ _Maybe I’m coming down with the flu._

“Babe, you okay? You look pale.” Ben says after they finally reach their seats.

“I don’t feel good, but it’s probably nothing. It will pass.” She shrugs it off. But it’s not nothing when she looks around and sees the amount of people in one place. All of the seats are filled, lights are flashing, everyone is sitting so overwhelmingly close and she feels like drowning. 

Ben notices her panic and he puts his arm around her shoulders to pull her close to him. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

Rey does feel relieved that he’s here to stop her from spiralling further. “My hero.” She chuckles quietly.

“We can leave anytime you want.” He presses a soft kiss on her forehead as she snuggles into his side.

She turns her head a little so she meets his eyes. “I love you.” Escape her lips as instinct and she smiles.  _ I finally did it! I said it! It’s official. _

Ben grins and sighs as he squeezes her shoulder. “I know.”

Rey is pretty sure that they are the target for kiss cam at half-time. Usually she wouldn’t mind, but today that kind of attention makes her want to throw up. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat and decides it’s time to go. To the bathroom. The game has been enjoyable enough that she’d like to see the end results. 

Ben stays at their seats. Just when Rey closes the bathroom stall door her stomach acts up and she is forced to let her body go. She is on her knees in a public bathroom and gripping the side of the toilet bowl. She should be disgusted, but her worries bypass those concerns.

“Are you okay?” Someone squeaks behind the door.

“I’m fine! Probably ate something bad.” Rey shouts when her body stops erupting.  _ This is Ben’s fault, he has been making me eat all this healthy gross food.  _ Rey takes a few deep breaths and cleans her mouth before leaving the stall only to be met with Rose Tico’s worried eyes. 

“Rose, hey! What a small world!” Rey is genuinely happy to see her, but she still feels grossed out.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Can I get you something? Water perhaps? A pregnancy test?” Rose doesn’t kid around and goes straight to the point.

_ A what now? _ Rey’s mouth falls open. “Water would be fine, thanks. I’m pretty sure it’s caused by food, not by a living organism growing inside me.” Rey bites her lip as she thinks about the latter idea.  _ I have been taking pills regularly, but it’s not 100% baby proof, is it?  _

Rose searches her bag and hands her a water bottle. “Let’s get some fresh air.”

Once they reach outside Rey sees Ben’s text. “Are you okay? Did you get lost? The game is starting soon.”

“I ran into a friend, I’ll be there soon.” She doesn’t want to worry him.

“Here, let’s find a bathroom and take these tests.” Rose shows her three different pregnancy tests she apparently got from a nearby pharmacy while Rey was texting.

Rey is already raising her hand to decline. “Rose, thanks, but there’s no need –”

She however pursues. “Please, I have a feeling about this. Do this at least for my sanity.”

Rey huffs. “Fine!”

They sit and wait for results in a small restaurant’s bathroom next to the arena. Rey hopes Ben is too distracted by the game to notice how long she’s been gone.

“So how have you been?” Rey tries to start small talk.

“Busy as always, nothing special... No, actually I started seeing someone. He’s so wonderful!” Rose starts impatient, but her eyes soften as she reaches the other half of her sentence.

“Oh, that’s great!” She smiles at her friend.

Rose sighs happily. “Yeah, his name is Hux.”

Rey almost spits out the sip of water she took. “Hux? Funny, that’s the name of Ben’s assistant.”

“That’s funny because he  _ is  _ Ben’s assistant.” Rose chuckles. “I actually met him when I had a thing with Ben, but we just met again recently and started talking.”

“Aww, that’s sweet. I hope you two work out.”

“Yeah, we’ll see, but ugh how much longer?! Oh –” Rose stops abruptly.

Rey stiffens. “What? Show me!” 

Rose studies the tests before handing them to Rey.

_ Fuck.  _

-

_ How should I tell him? Just hey, I’m pregnant or should I make it a grand reveal? _

Her eyes are fixed out of the window as Ben drives them home. “I’m sad you missed that epic ending.”

Rey perks up a little. “I’m not. I had a great time with Rose. Oh, did you know your ex-fling and your PA are now dating?”

“No, I didn’t. Good for them. I feel like celebrating tonight.” He announces as he drums the steering wheel.

Rey slightly panics.  _ Does he know? How could he know?  _ “Celebrate what?”

“Us, the new house. We haven’t had an official housewarming party, yet. Not that I need reasons to drink with you.” He smiles and they step out of the car.

Rey licks her lips nervously and follows Ben inside. “Maybe we can skip the drinking.”

Ben shoots her a quizzical look. “Since when have you turned down drinking?”

Rey fidgets a bit and glances around the house before clearing her throat. “Since um… Okay, I’ll just say it… I’m expecting.” She looks at Ben expectantly, trying to read his face.

“Expecting what? Visitors? Having sex? I’m not good at guessing games.” He chuckles.

Rey rolls her eyes. “No, you idiot, I’m pregnant!”

Ben stills for a second and is dumbstruck. “Oh... Really?”

Rey starts explaining while she takes a few steps closer to him. “I went to the bathroom and threw up and then Rose forced me to take pregnancy tests.” 

Ben opens and then closes his mouth, his brain still processing the news. “So, it’s happening. A baby?”

Rey is not happy with his answer, but tries to remain patient. “Yes, Ben. I know it’s soon and not planned, but it’s happening.” She spins on her heel to escape to their bedroom and to cry under their blanket,  _ because I’m not ready. Neither is he. We can’t start a family right now. _

Ben senses her distress and throws her over his shoulder to carry her to their bedroom. Rey squeals, but only gets a light spank on her ass in response. He places her on their bed and climbs on top of her. He kisses her hungrily, yet sweetly, like he is fighting himself whether to be rough or gentle with her.

“I love you and I will love this baby so much. But before it, I want  _ you _ to be the one to call me  _ daddy _ .” 

Rey quirks her brow.  _ The audacity of this man!  _

-

A year later Ben and Rey have their wedding. Ben had proposed to her a few days after her pregnancy was revealed. It was quite simple as he took her to Disneyland and rented the entire Journey Through Stars ride for them, but at the end of the ride the screen showed  _ Rey, will you take my hand and rule the galaxy with me? _ and then he got down on his knee to ask her hand in marriage. It was Galaxy Battles after all what united them. Rey wanted to lose the baby weight before the wedding, so the wedding had to happen a few months after the birth of their first child. Rey felt happy and loved as Ben’s family accepted her without a fuss, mostly because Rey forced Ben to reach out to his family to fix their strained relationship. She finally got what she had longed for – a home and a loving family.

“Welcome home, Mrs Solo.” Ben carries her through their front door.

“Oh, thank you, husband.” She kisses him deeply. “I can now officially say that I like you more than Kylo Ren.”

“That was a recent discovery?” He looks at her in disbelief.

She proudly lifts her chin. “Truthfully, yes.”

“And all I had to do to win you over was knock you up and make you my wife.” He laughs as he takes her to their bed.

Rey shrugs and kicks off her heels while she props herself onto her elbows. “What can I say, I have simple needs.”

“And they’re about to be fulfilled.” He says with a deep voice that makes Rey melt as he unbuttons his shirt and drops his pants.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! 
> 
> THANKS FOR READING, FOR THE COMMENTS AND KUDOS!! 
> 
> WISHING Y'ALL THE BEST!
> 
> I started writing a new Reylo fic in the SW universe that should be posted in September...


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